Reverb Magazine - issue 68

music, arts & culture monthly

central coast | hunter | north coast

FREE #068 April

MAN of earth henry rolls on

Cold Chisel Deliver the goods

Dweezil Zappa Like father

Clairy Browne Making a racket

plus: Children Collide + Kira Puru + August Burns Red + Jon Gomm + The Beards

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13/02/12 2:23 PM

WITH SPECIAL GUESTS

SUNDAY 3 JUNE • PANTHERS MOsHTix.cOM.AU

ON SALE NOW frontiertouring.com simpleplan.com

THE ALBUM ‘GET YOUR HEART ON!’ OUT NOW

photo by David Youdell

No. 68

Reverb Magazine is locally owned & published by The Lockup Garage.

Printed by Spotpress, Marrickville: sales@spotpress.com.au

index

contents

News 8-13 August Burns Red 14 Dweezil Zappa 15 Clairy Browne 16 Kira Puru 17 Jon Gomm 18 The Beards 18 Cold Chisel 20-21 Amber Lawrence 22 Children Collide 23 Henry Rollins 24-25 Stonefield mix tape 26 Fashion 29 Travel — Cruising with Burrito 30 Cartoon 31 Horoscopes 31 Talking Shop 31 Suitcase Royale 32 Motoring — Suzuki Swift Sports 33 Album reviews 34-35 Soundwave Sideshow reviews 36 Live reviews 37-38 Blue Mountains Festival review 38 Future Music Festival review 39 Film reviews 40 DVD reviews 41 Gig guide 42-44

editor’s letter

Credits

Over the past month it has been encouraging to see some larger tours being announced for Newcastle. Hats off to the promoters for having faith in Newcastle but my concern is seeing a half empty GA floor for Evanescence, and a reduced capacity Panthers for G3. This will only send warning bells to those who decide where to place tours, so make an effort guys and get to these gigs. Upcoming shows by Brian Setzer, Zappa, August Burns Red, Henry Rollins and The Darkness need to be well attended to ensure that we continue to get these type of shows in Newcastle. Anyway, the April issue is all complete and I’m off the Bluesfest.

Much love guys, Kevin

Editor

Cartoonist

Shelby Houghton

Luke Saunders

Editorial

Kevin Bull

Tony Jenkins

Charli Hutchison

Michael Sykes

kevin@reverbstreetpress.com or 0410 295 360

Michelle Jenkins

Roger Thornhill

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magazin e issue #068 — April 2012

Contacts

Sub-Editor

HOROSCOPES

Jessica Kell

Kirsty Visman

Sales, Newcastle & Central Coast

Kate Hamilton

Steve Burrito

Ashlee Kellehear

Linda Wales

kevin@reverbstreetpress.com or 0410 295 360

Kirri Liepins

art director

Writers

Nick Mackay

Photographers

Sales, North Coast

Cam Bennett

Ross Beckley

Jonathan McCallum

Joe Andersons

stephen@reverbstreetpress.com or 0458 559 938

Evan Bromiley

Stephanie McDonald

Jim Graham

North Coast Mgr

Steve Burrito

Nick Milligan

Richard Hedger

Gig guide

Stephen Bocking

Eliza Church

Veronique Moseley

Michelle Ho

gigguide@reverbstreetpress.com.au

Josh Clements

Jamie Nelson

David Jackson

Senior Writers

Barrington Cocks II

Cormack O’Connor

Ashlee Kellehear

Production

Birdy

Emily Cones-Browne

Amelia Parrott

Matt McIntyre

cam@reverbstreetpress.com

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Mick Daley

Thomas Peasley

Sam Paquette

Mark Snelson

Cameron Edney

Max Quinn

Terry Paull

Postal address

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Remote

PO Box 843, Woy Woy NSW 2256

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David Youdell

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SOUL STATION

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Giveaways just email editorial@reverbstreetpress.com.au First come, first served

5 copies Five copies of The Inbetweeners on DVD

the darkness

THE DARKNESS to LAND IN NEWCASTLE

1 double pass/ album pack

Win a double pass to The Little Stevies gig at the Royal Exchange Hotel, Newcastle, on Friday April 21, as well as a copy of Attention Shoppers CD.

5 copies

Five copies of Top Gear series 17 on DVD

10 double passes

Win one of 10 double passes to an advance screening of The Dictator on Wednesday May 9. [See advert on page 21 for details.]

2 prize PACKS

Win one of two Stonefield prize packs including double pass to their Byron Bay gig (Great Northern Hotel, Thursday April 19) or Newcastle gig (Cambridge Hotel, Saturday April 28), plus an autographed poster and t-shirt.

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mag azine issue #068 — April 2012

5 copies

Five copies of The Ides of March on DVD

5 copies

It’s been four years since The Darkness toured here. But in 2012 Australian fans will be treated to the original line-up of Justin Hawkins (vocals/ guitar), Dan Hawkins (guitars/ backing vocals), Frankie Poullain (bass), and Ed Graham (drums), following their reunion last year. Their as yet untitled third studio record, their first in eight years, and the follow-up to their multi-platinum selling Permission to Land (2003), that spawned the smash hit singles ‘I Believe In A Thing Called Love’, ‘Growing On Me’ and ‘Get Your Hands Off My Woman’, is due out later this year.

Known for their epic live shows, The Darkness have returned to the scene with a level of dramatic fanfare that is delighting fans and critics alike. With tours already completed in Europe and the USA, the Brit Award winners will land in Australia this May, ready to deliver performances of stratospheric proportions.

The Darkness perform at Newcastle Panthers on Saturday May 5.

simple plan

SIMPLE PLAN to TOUR THE EAST COAST

Get ready for the return of Australia˙s favourite punk-pop ensemble Simple Plan this winter. Simple Plan will embark on a massive tour that will see them hit metropolitan and regional venues, large and small, in their most extensive east coast tour to date. Their latest offering Get Your Heart On! stormed the ARIA charts upon its release late last year, with the help of fan favourite, and ARIA Top 10 single, ‘Jet Lag’.

Joining Simple Plan on tour is We The Kings, whose current single, ‘Say You Like Me’, from their latest album, Sunshine State Of Mind, is racing up the US singles charts, having hit Top 30 with no sign of slowing down. Rounding out the line-up will be local power-pop dance quintet The Never Ever, a group of exuberant Sydneysiders ready to get crowds moving with their boundless enthusiasm and danceable tunes. Simple Plan performs at Newcastle Panthers on Sunday June 3.

Five copies of Great Barrier Reef on DVD

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INTERNATIONAL SONGWRITING COMPETITION

mick thomas

MICK THOMAS GOES SOLO

After recording albums as Mick Thomas & The Sure Thing for the last few years, Thomas has produced his first ever solo studio album. After much deliberation, Mick decided to head over to the USA to record the album in Portland, Oregon, with long time friend and music associate Darren Hanlon at the producer’s helm. The Last Of The Tourists is the result — 11 brand spanking new stories, from heartbreak to history, drinking stories, tall tales and the truth — all in his unique form of song. Mick Thomas will take the The Last Of The Tourists on the road, performing at Lizotte’s, Lambton, on Thursday April 19, and Lizotte’s, Kincumber on Friday April 20.

HUNTER AND GATHERERS

Two of indie pop’s newest darlings, Emmy Bryce and Kate Vigo, are proud to announce their upcoming co-headline tour. The girls met in late 2011 and immediately connected over their mutual passion for music. The result: The Hunter and Gatherer Tour.

Throughout the April trek, Bryce and Vigo will be engaging with their fans through social media, sharing ideas, images and stories of their travels. In turn, fans will be invited to connect directly with these unique artists and contribute to the whole touring experience. Emmy Bryce and Kate Vigo perform at the Byron Bay Brewery on Sunday April 15.

TRUCKSTOP HONEYMOON RETURN

Hollering with all their hearts over a five string banjo and a doghouse bass, Truckstop Honeymoon live the life they sing about.

Touring across three continents with four kids and a truck-load of songs, Katie Euliss and Mike West tell stories about the strangeness of everyday life. Their music combines elements of midwestern bluegrass and old music hall jazz, spiked with vaudeville wit and showmanship. The duo relocated to Kansas from New Orleans after the 2005 flood and their latest CD, Steamboat in a Cornfield, shows the influences of both the Kansas prairie and the Mississippi delta.

Truckstop Honeymoon perform at Lizotte’s, Kincumber, on Wednesday April 11; Glasshouse Theatre, Port Macquarie, on Friday April 13; Gallipoli Club, Hamilton, on Saturday April 14; Grand Junction Hotel, Maitland, on Sunday April 15.

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Australian musicians have led the field in the announcement of the finalists and semi-finalists of the 2011 International Songwriting Competition (ISC). Household names like rockers The Living End and singer/songwriter Shane Nicholson nabbed coveted spots, with three songs each being entered into the final round of judging. Other established and upand-coming Aussie names such as Missy Higgins, Emma Louise and Children Collide, to name a few, followed with two nominations each, setting an incredible benchmark for Australian songwriters. The Australian monopoly continued with other finalists, including the likes of Dallas Frasca, Jebediah, Dead Letter Circus, Oh Mercy and many more. This incredible effort by Australian artists comes as the entries for the 2012 competition open to the public.

ISC founder and director Candace Avery says once again Australia had the biggest number of entries next to that of the US, taking out 14 per cent of the overall entries for the competition.

“Obviously, English-speaking countries provide the most entries, but we also get a lot of entries from all over the world,” she says. “This year we received them from 111 countries. What’s really remarkable though, is that almost 20 per cent of finalists come from Australia.”

The number of entries received from Australian songwriters is growing every year. “When you consider the population of Australia is 22 million, compared to the US, whose population is 311 million, the number of Australian entries is especially impressive,” says Avery. “We always look forward to hearing Aussie entries because they are often more interesting and creative than most.

Inevitably, a lot of our finalists come from Australia because of the high quality of songwriting.”

ISC has recently launched another avenue for Australian artists. The Unsigned Only competition is not just about songwriting, it’s about music. “The goal of Unsigned Only is to find an outstanding, talented performer — a band, singer, or solo artist; newcomer, or veteran; raw or polished — a gem that needs to be discovered,” says Avery. “Unsigned Only is looking for the total package.” To enter, artists must not be signed to a major record label. The winner or winners will have the opportunity to be mentored by a group of high profile US industry professionals, including record label presidents and A&R reps. “This is a once in a lifetime chance to directly network with the top echelon of record company professionals and get guidance, advice, feedback and networking opportunities,” says Avery.

The judging panel for the ISC’s 2011 competition features high-profile industry executives and iconic artists such as Ozzy Osbourne, Jeff Beck, Duran Duran, Tom Waits, Kelly Clarkson and Wynonna, to name a few. Prizes include over $150,000 in cash, merchandise and services. Winners will be announced in April 2012.

Entries for the 2012 International Songwriting Competition and the Unsigned Only competition are open now. For more information, or to enter, visit www.songwritingcompetition.com and www.unsignedonly.com.

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ADDRESS

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WEB

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PHONE

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CARAVANA SUN ON THE GYPSY TRAIL

ILLIE HONA YOLAN SCOTT DAVEY SKY DADDY BRIAN WATT MATT BUGGY STAG LEIGH JAMES STU & DAVE BO JENKINS CLOCKWORK ORANGE CHRIS ARONSTEN WEDNESDAY NIGHTS

FR E E POOL FROM 5PM TR IVIA WITH ERIN – 6.30PM MONDAY TO SUNDAY

Caravana Sun are set to hit the road this April for another run of gypsy travels. Following the success of their summer east coast tour, this will be your last chance to soak up some Caravana Sun before the band jets off for the European summer festival circuit. The album launch tour earlier this year saw the crowd love flourish across the country, with new fans bouncing to their sun-filled grooves. With their frenetic fusion of surf, ambient, ska and world music, the band is quickly building a reputation for first-class live shows laden with danceworthy reggae grooves and down to earth soulful lyrics. Caravana Sun perform at the Rhythm Hut, Gosford, on Thursday April 5; Great Northern Hotel, Newcastle, on Friday April 6; Harrington Hotel on Saturday April 7 and Sunday April 8; Beach Hotel, Byron Bay, on Monday April 9.

Rüfüs tour to hit THE cambridge’s SIDE BAR

Indie-dance outfit Rüfüs return with new track ‘This Summer’ from the soon-to-bereleased sophomore EP. To celebrate the release, the band will hit the road in April/ May for shows in Victoria, NSW, ACT, WA and Queensland. Since the release of the band’s debut self-titled EP in 2011, Rüfüs have been flooding airways and dancefloors with waves of subliminal and unrelentingly infectious tunes. The combination of live instruments, electronic production and skilled pop sensibilities has hit a note with discerning lovers of electronic music who are listening closely for Rüfüs’ next move.

Rüfüs performs at the Side Bar, Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle, on Friday April 20.

TUESDAY NIGHTS

OPE N M IC N IG HT – 7PM WITH PH I L LEVY

$10 RUMP STEAK OR SCHNITZEL – 7 NIGHTS

the stillsons

THE STILLSONS TOUR JIMMY’S TREEHOUSE

Fresh from completing a WA tour, Melbourne alt country group, The Stillsons have announced their ‘Jimmy’s Treehouse’ East Coast Tour of 2012. Described as “Chet Atkins-esque melody…Elliot Smith vocal style”, the new single ‘Jimmy’s Treehouse’ saw its debut broadcast on UK national radio in March. The Stillsons perform at Rails, Byron Bay, on Thursday April 12; Bangalow Hotel on Friday April 13; Beach Hotel, Byron Bay, on Thursday April 19; Coast Hotel, Coffs Harbour, on Friday April 20; Federal Hotel, Alstonville, on Saturday April 21; Grand Junction Hotel, Maitland, on Sunday April 22.

THE LITTLE STEVIES IN 3D

Serious about remaining relevant and cutting edge, The Little Stevies have embraced the futuristic technology spreading through the entertainment industry and gone 3D. They’re leaving the drum-kit at home and heading out on the road for some very special acoustic trio performances.”This tour is so 3D, it’s actually in real life,” says guitarist and vocalist Bethany Stephen. The Little Stevies have polished up their ‘unplugged’ set and are heading up the coast. The Little Stevies perform at the Royal Exchange Hotel, Newcastle on Saturday April 21.

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mag azine issue #068 — April 2012

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juzzie smith

THE SMITHS AT BELLINGEN

Two festival favourites will be performing on a single bill at the Bellingen Memorial Hall — Juzzie Smith and A French Butler Called Smith. Smith’s music has the feeling of freedom pulsing within it. Watching him perform, you can feel the joy and playfulness that endears Smith’s music to people of all ages at festival after festival. His unique sound embraces elements of the blues, folk, groove and roots as he masterfully plays a combination of guitars, harmonica and percussion. Above all, it’s fun music that soothes the soul and makes the heart sing. If A French Butler Called Smith had to sum up their mission statement in one word it would be dance — and they’re willing to use any weapon in their artillery of musical genres to do it. Whether its funk, latin, gypsy or anything in between, make no mistake — you will be on your feet. If you missed them on their last trip to Bellingen, get on board this time around for some exhilarating and captivating sounds you won’t find anywhere else! Juzzie Smith and A French Butler Called Smith perform at the Bellingen Memorial Hall on Friday April 27.

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the new tattersalls hotel Open Mic Comedy from 8pm | $5

Cole Cox Lovejoy

NJE

from 6pm | FREE

NJE FEEDS THE SOUL

NJE is heading back to Newcastle to give his fans a sneak preview of his upcoming album Like Food For the Soul, due for release mid 2012. Like Food For the Soul is the third album release from the Sydney-based, unsigned/indie Aussie hip-hop artist and it features special guests like the legendary Kool G Rap, Wu-Tang affiliate Solomon Childs, Hau from Koolism, Hyjak, Chase, Unda Dwella, Sceptic & Dseeva and Untaymable. This Newcastle show will give fans just a taste of what’s to come. With support from Nhostic, One Mike, Prophetics, Poetic Transition, NCL, Untaymable, Beat Theory and DJ Riley JM, NJE performs at the Hamilton Station Hotel, Islington, on Saturday April 14.

NEWCASTLE CD & RECORD FAIR

For lovers of all things black, round and shiny, the Newcastle Record and CD Fair is on again. Hunt down that hard to find imported vinyl or deleted CD — there’s no better place to get that missing piece for your collection. It all happens at the Uniting Church Hall, Hamilton on Sunday May 6.

Aaron Bishop

from 7.30pm | FREE

Live Poets

from 8pm | $5

Kyle Watson & Friends from 6pm | FREE marK easton

from 7.30pm | FREE

MARK EASTON’S GRIND

The Gold Coast’s Mark Easton is heading north after touring South Australia, Tasmania, regional Victoria and back, dodging feral koalas and performing songs from his newborn CD Grind, accompanied by trusty resonator and double neck guitars, compact percussion gear and stomp box. Easton is a high octane, one-man blues machine.

Layered with an electronic loop system, his music combines electric slide guitar/bass, trusty kick drum and wicked harmonica to produce a full, fat and attention-grabbing sound, with rock and funk influences and energy to burn. Live, Easton showcases his multi-instrumental prowess — the songs are built around loops he creates on the fly and layered to create a band vibe without the other players. Mark Easton performs at the Bangalow Hotel on Saturday April 21; Chinderah Tavern on Saturday May 5; Surf Club Bar, Coffs Harbour on Sunday May 6.

Bill Jacobi

from 7.30pm | FREE

Singer Songwriter Night from 8pm | FREE

Acid Bleed

from 6pm | FREE

Brian Watt

from 7.30pm | FREE Thundergods of the Multiverse

with Special Guests from 9pm | $5 entry

Beth & Ben

SOUTHERLY CHANGE FOR THE NORTH COAST

from 6pm | FREE

Over the past 18 months, Southerly Change have established themselves as one of NSW’s fastest rising new bands. Originally a group of four mates, the band currently consist of anything from a simple guitar, vocals and hand percussion set-up, to an eight-piece group with horn section, guitars, drum kit, percussion, bass, and harmonica.

This versatility extends to the music’s aesthetics also — the drummers have trained in Ghana; the horn section is jazz-influenced and the harmonica adds a heavy blues sound which combines with the simple and subtle guitar and lyrical melodies of the band’s singer-songwriter Ben Fowler, to create a richly textured and dynamic musical experience. After successfully touring the east coast last year, Southerly Change are retracing their steps up the coast throughout March, April and May, performing at the Grand Junction Hotel, Maitland, on Sunday April 1; Nimbin Hotel on Thursday April 5; Yamba Bowling Club on Friday April 6; Lennox Point Hotel on Saturday April 7; Yamba YHA Backpackers Beach Resort on Saturday April 14; Sheoak Shack, Fingal Head, on Sunday April 15; Valla Beach Tavern on Friday April 27.

Rhett Brambleby

from 7.30pm | FREE

Matt & Brie

from 7.30pm | FREE

Norman & Louise Band with Special Guests from 9pm | entry TBA

trivia night

tuesdays from 6.30pm | FREE

open mic comedy with mandy nolan wednesday 4th april from 8pm | $5 entry

live poets with David Hallett from 8pm | $5 entry

singer songwriter night wednesday 18th april from 8pm | FREE

jazz night

LIVE & LOCAL AT LIZOTTE’S

thursdays from 6pm | FREE

Lambton Lizotte’s: Wednesday April 11, Kristy James, Zach & Gaby, Grand Master Monk, Hey Sanchez. Kincumber Lizotte’s: Wednesday April 4, Kristy James, Tim Sheumack, Trent Crawford, Tim Orgias; Wednesday April 11, Salt, Glenys Rae Trio, Truckstop Honeymoon; Thursday April 12, Anabelle Kay; Wednesday April 18, Damien Molley, Alex Gibson, Climax Igloo, Sound.

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texas hold em poker

fridays from 6pm | $5 entry 6621 4729 108 keen street lismore 2480

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reverb magazin e issue #068 — April 2012 13

a u g u s t b u r n s re d

LIVE AT THE STAG FROM 8.30PM

All-American metalcore outfit AUGUST BURNS RED has certainly come a long way since they began in 2003. Last year this fearsome quintet released their fourth and most successful album to date, Leveler. The album shot straight to the top of the hard rock and Christian rock charts in the US, taking the band on to bigger stages, not only in the US but around the world. CAMERON EDNEY caught up with guitarist BRENT RAMBLER while the band were finishing up their extensive US tour.

THURSDAYS

5/4

OMG!

FRIDAYS

6/4 13/4 20/4 27/4

(CLOSED – GOOD FRIDAY) SUNDAYS RECORD LADY K & THE GOODTIMES PHASE III

SATURDAYS

7/4 14/4 21/4 28/4

Burning Red, White and Blue

FLYING MARE LOOSE BAZOOKA NINEMILE FORMULA

The last time you were in Australia was for the No Sleep Til’ Festival which featured many great bands. What comes to mind when you look back on that tour?

That festival was awesome. I grew up listening to heaps of punk music and the fact that Alkaline Trio, Me First, the Gimmie Gimmies and NoFX were all on that tour with us was incredible! It was like my 16-year-old self was losing his mind [laughs]. We got to hang out with our friends in Suicide Silence a lot, and the tour was a blast — it was so easy and everything was so organised. It was amazing!

When you look back over the years you’ve spent on stage while touring with many great bands, who’s given you the best advice and what was it?

One of the best pieces of advice that Underoath gave us was don’t take out a tour bus if you can’t pay for it for a whole week with one show. That’s a huge piece of advice because it’s something that a lot of people want to do because it’s cool… [but] it’s $1000 per day - if you can’t afford it then you can’t afford it.

We know it’s not always a pleasurable experience sharing rooms and buses for weeks at a time. How have you found is the best way to deal with each other out on the road?

The biggest thing to do, if you’re having a horrible crushing day, is to get up and try and find a gym to go to. There’s a lot of downtime on tour and if I get up, go to the gym and spend some time there getting some energy out, I feel like it calms me down a little bit. It can be tough but you make the bunk space in the bus your own. I guess you just retreat to that and try and watch a movie!

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mag azi ne issue #068 — April 2012

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You guys have some pretty amazing fans and the crowds at your shows go insane.

What comes to mind as the most insane things you’ve seen taking place?

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On this tour, our singer has been getting kids to get on each other’s backs and do this chicken fight instead of them doing the wall of death — that’s been pretty amusing. We’ve been trying to get kids to do a wall of death with a circle pit around it at the same time, but that hasn’t really worked out yet - maybe in Australia we can get that going. [laughs] You’re still riding on the wave of the most recent album Leveler, have you started penning ideas for the next album at this point?

We haven’t done too much about that yet.

We’re in the process of recording a Christmas record - we do Christmas covers every year and we just thought it would be cool to do a full record of [them]. Once that’s all done we will start worrying about the next record. We will probably do that at the end of this year.

With this last album doing so well - hitting #1 on the Christian charts, the rock charts and the hard rock charts in the US, I would imagine expectations are high and that it puts a certain amount of pressure on you for the next album.

Yeah… you want to make everybody happy; you want to bring in new fans whilst keeping the ones you already have. For us, we write what we want to write and if people are going to like it, great. People seemed to have enjoyed what we’ve done for the last nine years so we hope to continue that trend.

Do you have any last words for your Aussie fans?

Come out to the shows — it’s going to be a blast. All the bands playing on these shows are great. We can’t wait to see you all and get back to Australia!

August Burns Red, with BlessTheFall and Northlane in support, perform at Newcastle Panthers on Thursday April 19.

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d w ee z i l z a p p a

When you’re doing Zappa Plays Zappa, are you obliged to quote Frank’s guitar lines out of respect for the contributions he made to music?

To a large degree, yes, I think that’s the right mindset — especially because Frank’s music is more akin to classical music than rock music. By that example, you wouldn’t have an orchestra taking a piece by Beethoven or Mozart and then saying, “hey, let me throw this new part in here! Why don’t I get Kanye West to come and go, ‘yeah! yeah! Beethoven! yeah!’ over the top?”. You don’t need that modern influence. An orchestra’s job is to play what’s on the page, and that’s what I’m trying to do with Frank because he knew exactly what he wanted, sonically and musically.

Then how do you go about recreating such diverse and experimental guitar tones?

Well it is a real challenge. That’s an extra amount of work that I do. The sound and the production of songs is all a part of the composition. Obviously it’s good to play the right notes in time, but because it’s more orchestral in nature, you need to have the same timbre and texture. When it comes down to the detail of all of the guitar sounds, my dad was pretty experimental with how he used equipment. I have to find new gadgets to recreate the old sounds.

Tell me about some of the different gadgets you use in order to do that. One of those I am really interested in is the modified Gibson ES5 that Frank used to use.

The guitar as it’s currently modified, doesn’t work. I’ve recently come across a guy who worked on it when it was originally modified who claims that he can make it work again.

To the best I can tell, at one point Frank had some early version of a guitar synthesiser interface. His guitar worked somehow with that interface. There are now three Barcus Berry pick-ups that look like they don’t belong on the guitar, and about 12 extra switches and what looks like individual volume knobs for each guitar string. There’s a multi-pin connector on the guitar as well.

Really? Why would you want a multi-pin?

It’s weird. Whatever the guitar/synth modification he was attempting to use it with was, he was using the multi-pin to operate the individual analogue synth modules with his guitar. That guitar got Frankensteined pretty severely.

What about the Hendrix guitar? There’s a lot of folklore surrounding that guitar.

That guitar was given to Frank at the Miami Pop Festival but it wasn’t a guitar Jimi played at the show that night. As far as I know, it’s very likely to be the guitar he burned at the Astoria in London, and then they travelled with the guitar to the US, where it was given to Frank by Jimi’s roadie. The electronics were burned and melted and the neck was destroyed as well. So when Frank used the guitar it was really just the body itself.

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THE GOOD SON DWEEZIL ZAPPA returns to Australia this month to play a string of east coast dates, including a pit-stop at the Byron Bay Blues Festival. Son of legendary guitarist Frank Zappa, Dweezil chats to MAX QUINN about his Zappa Plays Zappa project and his father’s fabled Hendrix guitar.

He decided to make it a playable guitar in the mid-70s — it’s the guitar on the cover of Guitar Player Magazine in 1977. He had a parametric EQ and a pre-amp built into the guitar in the 80s, but then he got sick of it and I took it to Fender. Now it looks exactly like the Guitar Player Magazine guitar, including Frank’s modifications.

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Frank is somebody who comes across as an eccentric entity in the media. I wanted to ask about the Frank you knew as a father.

I don’t think that he was an eccentric person as we knew him as a father. One of the reasons I started doing this project is because I feel like he was really misrepresented and misunderstood by a lot of people based on how he was portrayed in the media. A good example of that would be a recent issue of Rolling Stone, where they printed an illustration of Frank with a joint. And Frank was well known to us for being anti-drugs.

People relegate Frank’s music to being novelty or joke music, but he made sixty or so albums over his lifetime, and there’s so much depth and variety to his music. That’s what this project was designed to represent.

What I know of Frank is completely different to what I read about Frank.

Zappa Plays Zappa performs at Newcastle Panthers on Sunday April 8, and Bluesfest, Byron Bay on Monday April 9.

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reverb magazin e issue #068 — April 2012 15

c l a i r y br o w n

Makin’ a Racket Singers as smoky and sassy as CLAIRY BROWNE hark back to the good old days of the diva. All big hair, sparkly dresses and cigarettes, Clair y Browne and the Bangin’ Rackettes are shaking up a jazz-infused cocktail set to get down to. CORMACK O’CONNOR spoke to Browne about fame, fortune and The Gum Ball.

Etta James and Tina Turner are often described as your influences.

Definitely Etta James and Tina Turner, but all of those great big diva voices — Aretha Franklin, Esther Phillips… I guess we also draw inspiration from contemporary R&B artists as well — Erykah Badu, Cee Lo Green, Outkast. There’s a range of influences. I admire Amy Winehouse, musically, as well.

Your voice is fairly smoky and unique.

I’ve been singing since I was a little kid. I used to sit on a beanbag when I was about four and sing sad songs (laughs). I kind of have a big connection to gloomy music.

That’s why I like R&B and soul so much because it comes from a beautiful, heartfelt place most of the time. But yeah, I just played in a few bands and with my family.

What’s a typical day in the life of Clairy?

Well it revolves a lot around this place where the band and I all hang out — some of us actually live there. It’s called ‘The Pound’. We have a homemade recording studio and it’s just a big dilapidated mansion. We just all hang out and listen to records and jam and write music. There’s also a lot of organising choreography, band rehearsals and dancing around in our bedrooms (laughs). We orchestrate the show I guess. Running around trying to find costumes and just getting shit done basically (laughs). Busy life…

It’s a fairly large band — nine members all up. What are the pros and cons of being lead lady of such a big collective?

Positives — it’s like a family; we rely on each other a lot. Because there’s so many of us, there’s a huge pool of influences and experiences to draw upon. Lots of the

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mag azine issue #068 — April 2012

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boys have a strum jazz background and some of the girls have dance history or country music backgrounds. I guess our only drawback would be the time it takes to make a decision about something and that the cash is split nine ways (laughs).

Tell me about the recording process of Baby Caught The Bus? We recorded with Steve Shram in Soundpark studios in Melbourne. It was done in two stints — we recorded one week and then left it for a while before we came back fresh for another week. We had a whole bunch of new songs that we’d written. It’s all quite collaborative. Steve worked very closely with helping us write some stuff as we went and a lot of the pieces were developed in the studio.

I found the song ‘Yellow Bird’ intriguing.

That’s actually my favourite song to sing.

‘Yellow Bird’ was written by Darcy McNulty (tenor sax) — he’s one of the core songwriters. It’s kind of smoky and bluesy.

For me it’s one of the most pertinent songs in the set because it sets a strong, dark and reflective mood. It’s quite a big contrast to all of the other songs we play.

We often play it with smoke machines.

Why should people come and see you at the Gum Ball?

We put on a show! We’re really interested in the whole showmanship bit. There’s costume changes, high hair, high glamour, choreographed dance moves — a really smooth, swinging set. It’s unforgettable.

Clairy Browne and the Bangin’ Rackettes play The Gum Ball festival at Belford, Hunter Valley, April 27-28.

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You were supporting the Snowdroppers in Newcastle when I saw you perform live. What musicians do you listen to and learn from?

I think people probably expect my taste to be more traditional and retro, but a lot of the stuff I listen to is contemporary. I love Jeff Buckley, Nick Cave, The White Stripes, The Yeah Yeah Yeah’s, Arctic Monkeys. I’m listening to a lot of Sharon Van Etten at the moment — she’s a great songwriter. Portishead and Radiohead are major influences.

Of course I’m influenced by Etta James and Nina Simone and those old-school divas.

But, musically, I listen to a lot of contemporary stuff.

I’ve noticed that in your dress sense and style, you tend to go for a more traditional, old-school fashion.

Originally it was just a style I really liked — I’d been doing it for years and years. But that’s all starting to change now. I guess I’m trying to re-invent myself. I think a lot of people are expecting a different style of music from us because of how I present myself. But of course the ladies of that era are definitively beautiful and they did do something to inspire me.

You always seem to have a glass of red wine in your hand when you perform — is that a comfort thing?

It originally started because I used to play keys in the band and I stopped that because I wanted to focus more on my singing. I felt naked without having something in my hand, so it is a comfort thing, but I am a girl who likes to drink. [laughs] ‘When All Your Love is Not Enough’ — what’s it about?

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tour; you need money to do a decent recording that reflects who you are. To know that there are people out there stealing something that you could be making money on is infuriating. It’s basically impossible for any musician at this level to survive off music alone so all the musicians that I know are in a constant struggle to make enough money to be a musician. They have to have another career and other skill sets. This then doesn’t leave enough time for them to put 100 per cent into their music. It’s just the way that it is and I don’t think there’s anything we can do to stop that happening — all we can really do is embrace that change.

If you think the music is worthwhile, it’s worth buying. Personally, if I downloaded music and loved it I would go out and buy it. If people like what you do they’ll come and see a show or buy the album.

Bruised by Love Having spent 2011 touring solidly, Newcastle outfit KIRA PURU & THE BRUISE are hitting the road once more for their ‘When All Your Love is Not Enough’ single tour. MEL ROACH spoke with Puru about fashion, touring and the digital age.

It’s basically about the end stage of your relationship and how hard that is… trying to find a way to make things work when you feel like there’s no salvaging [it]. It’s the despondent feeling that you get in your heart when something’s ending and there’s

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nothing much you can do about it. It’s about relationships — the shit part.

What are your thoughts on the illegal downloading of music?

Well, with any band, you need money to

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What do you like best about touring?

Well, when I come back from a tour I feel stagnant and bored. It’s pretty inspiring travelling the country, meeting new people and seeing new faces. Before the band, I hadn’t travelled that much, and I’m actually quite fond of it and the three guys, whom I love to death. Some of the best times I’ve had [have been] with them and I think they understand me — an amazing quality. When you’re on the road for 12 hours at a time, you can’t escape smelling and seeing each other, whether you like it or not. We’ve met some amazing people, some great bands and, well, I like drinking! [laughs] Kira Puru & The Bruise perform at the Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle, on Friday April 13 with The Preachers, Boatfriends and Steve Smyth.

reverb magazin e issue #068 — April 2012 17

t h e bear d s — j o n g o m m

Beauty and the Beard

scenarios. This should give Reverb readers a bit more of an understanding of your commitment to beards… Would you rather shave off your beard or be celibate?

Don’t waste my time! I would never shave off my beard. I’ve already had 32 celibate years, what’s 32 more? And anyway, when you shave off your beard, your penis falls off. That’s a scientific fact!

Beards can be beautiful — masculine, virile, the perfect place to hide your pet hamster… South Australian band The Beards are at the forefront of the fashion for facial hair. KIRSTY VISMAN spoke to guitarist and vocalist FACEY MC STUBBINGTON about alopecia, celibacy and bearded women.

Would you rather sleep with a bearded woman or a beardless supermodel?

You must already know the answer to that!

A bearded woman every day of the week!

There is man and woman and you can only gain either of those titles with a beard. Anyway, supermodels are just dressing up to distract us from the fact that they’re beardless and don’t eat.

Having a Beard is the New Not Having a Beard, is your third studio album, how many more albums about beards do you think you have in you?

Hmm, I can’t honestly say. I’d like to think an infinite number but we can only rock while we’re alive so I’d like to think at least 27.

Would you rather force a teenager to shave his first sprout or call your next album Beards Are For Wankers?

Oh, man! I’d like to take the fifth [amendment, US] here because, really, both are just awful! I suppose if I had to answer then I’d go with the album title but I’d put it in quotation marks so it looked ironic.

Criminals, bikies, hobos… they all stereotypically have one thing in common – their beards. Do you think these groups have given beards a bad rep or are they simply misunderstood?

I think it’s a bit of both. It’s like one of the songs on our second album says — “beards don’t kill people, people with beards kill people”. It’s not their beards, it’s them. But yes, in a sense they do give beards a bit of bad name, only I’d still rather they had beards than not.

Do you believe that beards give a

Sampson-like strength to the bearded?

Absolutely! I feel like I was only born when I grew a beard. Before that I just didn’t have the strength to remember.

A strong theme running through your songs is that people without beards are shithouse.

What about women who simply cannot grow a beard despite rigorous attempts?

There’s really no excuse. It doesn’t stop my grandma! Man-boys also seem to find it difficult. You’ve just got to stick at it, be patient and above all, don’t shave!

The Hunter Valley is known for its wines, the Southern Downs is known for its fruit — where would you say is Australia’s premier beard production region?

Oh, great question! I’d have to say Canberra does very well. There’s a high percentage of beards and a lot of beard-love, too. Men and women come up to us and want to touch us.

Don’t touch us. Except if you have a beard, then you can touch us wherever you want.

The beardy have total access.

Now I’d like to give you a few hypothetical

Would you rather be completely covered in hair so that your beard was indistinguishable from the rest or your body or suffer from alopecia (complete hairlessness)?

I’m already the first one, really. The only bare skin I have is on my palms and the bottoms of my feet. Alopecia is something we just don’t joke about. We’re hoping to start a charity initiative called ‘Decembeard: Grow for a Cure’. Alopecia is a very sad state of affairs.

The Beards perform at the Great Northern Hotel, Newcastle, on Wednesday April 18.

Flowering Passion JON GOMM is a quirky English singer-songwriter with a unique, percussive guitar-playing style, and he’s coming to a venue near you. CORMACK O’CONNOR had a chat with Gomm about his life-long passion for music.

Your guitar technique is certainly amazing.

Where did you learn it?

It’s a mixture of things really. I’ve had loads of guitar lessons in my life so it’s not been developed purely by me — I’m not a self-taught player. I started taking guitar lessons when I was four years old and then I had guitar lessons all through school. From there I went to music college for nearly five years. I’m a pretty educated guitar player. It’s a mixture of flamenco, blues and 80s guitarists like Preston Reed and Michael Hedges.

Do you have any other influences?

Yeah, loads — I could talk about them for hours!

But my standard influences, being an English singer-songwriter, are The Beatles, for example, but also lesser-known people like Nick Harper — he’s a genius, check him out!

What first sparked your interest in music?

I can’t remember because I was so young.

My dad tells me I was watching TV when somebody was playing guitar and I was just hypnotised and I wanted a guitar. My parents bought me a ukulele for Christmas when I was two and I started pounding away on that. When I was old enough to hold a half-size guitar they bought me one of those and I started lessons at four. The teacher was pretty reluctant about it but it was something I wanted to do. My parents weren’t pushy so I don’t know what started it.

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mag azi ne issue #068 — April 2012

Neighbours since I was really small so I have this strange perception of what it’s going to be like. When Carl and Susan Kennedy split up it was more painful for me then the break-up of my own parents’ marriage (laughs). I love touring though. Every country is different and every town and every audience.

How did you go about breaking into the music scene?

I didn’t really. I just do it on my own. I don’t know what it’s like in Australia but I just started touring and developing a following by organising my own gigs. Then I could go on tour because I had contacts.

Where’s your favourite place to play?

Probably Italy so far. The first concert I played was at a really packed small venue. Right in the front row was a bunch of old guys and I played a song called ‘Rescue Song’, which is my corny love song. Anyway, one guy had his head down the whole song and I thought he hated it, but after the show I was talking to the venue owner and he said the guy was in tears. You wouldn’t get that anywhere else, a guy openly weeping at a gig.

Some of your songs contain vocals and others don’t. Do you enjoy singing?

Yeah, I love singing. It’s hard for me — I’m not a natural singer. I think I’m a natural guitar player. A lot of the singers that I like tend to be very technical singers as well. I love Paul McCartney, Joni Mitchell and singers like that. My songs tend to have quite complex melodies a lot of the time — it’s weird. I practise lots.

What’s your favourite song of your own?

A song called ‘Swallow You Whole’ from my first album. Nobody’s ever requested it at a gig though (laughs). It was my attempt at drum and bass. I’m going to resurrect it.

What’s behind the song ‘Passion Flower’?

It started with a passionfruit seed that I planted in my backyard. It’s very cold in the north of England and I didn’t expect anything to happen. I went away for a couple of weeks and when I came back my backyard was covered in this plant! It was insane — all these flowers just burst. It’s about the idea that

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something can grow from a tiny source.

People comment on it being uplifting and spiritual but it’s from a scientific background.

I’m a born-and-bred atheist. I accept everyone’s beliefs but I’m interested in atheism as spirituality.

Is there a third album on the cards?

Maybe… I’m interested in releasing single songs at the moment.

Have you been to Australia before?

No, but like every English person I have one relative that lives there (laughs). I’ve watched

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I see a percentage of your sales go to The Happy House home in Kenya. Why? My mum goes and volunteers there. I decided that because I’m independent and no one takes a percentage of my profit I wanted to give something from every sale to a charity. Of course I had to pick the charity mum works for (laughs) but it’s an amazing charity.

Jon Gomm performs at Lizotte’s Kincumber, on Tuesday April 17; Brewery, Byron Bay, on Saturday April 21; Lizotte’s Lambton on Thursday April 26.

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reverb magazin e issue #068 — April 2012 19

cold Chisel

Brown Paper Cigarettes

It’s two in the morning at your local. The horrible pub covers band have invited themselves back to the stage for an encore. Pub covers folklore stipulates that you save your best sing-along for when the crowd is the drunkest. We know what’s coming. Your mate Bordo loves it to bits. Nobody can tell you how to spell it but you’d better bloody believe they know all the words, mate. Khe fuck’n’ Sanh - a classic Strayan anthem. Fast forward 30 years and COLD CHISEL are back with a record that BARNESY reckons is even better. He tells MAX QUINN all about it.

Firstly, can I call you Barnsey?

Absolutely. I encourage it.

I was thinking about it this morning, and there aren’t too many famous musos with such widely-accepted nicknames.

Well that’s what happens when you’re around for 40 years. I’m just happy to still be making music and to be on people’s radars.

I’m happy to be doing some of the biggest tours in the country and recording new albums with Cold Chisel. While I can still do all of that you can call me whatever you want.

When did you decide it was time to do Chisel again?

It started in 2009. We played at the V8 Supercars in Sydney. We thought the combination of fast cars and rock ‘n’ roll was a good one. That was a great success — we played to more than 50,000 people. More importantly, we really enjoyed playing together. We then went into my recording studio in Sydney and we had a bit of fun and did some writing and recording demos, and

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magazin e issue #068 — April 2012

we really had no plans to take it any further.

But the demos went really well and then we started getting excited thinking that maybe we’d do a record.

Then, to our horror, Steve [Prestwich, drums] passed away in January last year from a brain tumour. That put everything on hold again — we had no plans to do anything with the material we’d recorded again. At that point it was over. After the shock of Steve’s death dissipated, we decided that we needed to take something positive out of it. And the one positive thing that had come out of it was that we’d realised how much fun we were having playing as a band and hanging out as friends again. You’ve got to enjoy life while you can.

What happened then?

We started looking for someone to play drums for us. Don Walker [keys] suggested Charlie Drayton. Charlie’s a New Yorker who has a strong affinity with Australian music — he’s managed Chrissie Amphlett and he’s played in The Divinyls. Charlie fitted right in — he didn’t replace Steve but he put his own spin

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on what we were doing. So then we had this record with no plans as to what we were going to do with it [nor] how, or even if, we were going to put it out.

I was reading you got some new management through that time as well.

They were instrumental in getting the record out. They helped us get the digital catalogue out and to get over Steve and to start recording again. They put together a tour and we sold 270,000 tickets in an hour and a half or something, so things were falling into place. Now the album’s out and we’ve got a few gigs in support, starting in Byron Bay at the Blues Festival. We’re just trying to showcase the album and fulfil some commitments. But we have no plans of going on with touring at the moment. We’ve got another half an album already in the can.

It’s happening really organically.

One of the things you mentioned three or four times just then was this idea of having no plans, and that’s also the name

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of the opening track on the record. But the song itself tells a different story to the one you’ve just told me.

That was definitely the recurring theme.

The opening track to the album was a song that Don wrote, and it was called ‘No Plans’, and we thought it was a perfect way to describe the processes we’ve gone through from 2009 up until now. The song itself is about being in peak hour traffic. Don wrote it, and I think he was in gridlock watching people wearing suits, screaming at each other, beeping horns, and he looked over and there was some bloke sitting up against a wall with a brown paper bag and a cigarette. And I think Don sort of looked at him and thought this drunk guy has a better approach to life than the rest of us.

No Plans is to be released April 6 though Warner Music. Cold Chisel perform at Bluesfest, Byron Bay, on Thursday April 5, and Hordern Pavilion, Sydney, on Wednesday April 18.

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ackstage at the 2005 Tamworth Country Music Festival, Jimmy Barnes is shrieking like a cranky cockatoo. He grins apologetically and remarks, “It’s my warm-up routine,” before joining fellow vintage rockers Normie Rowe and Ross Wilson on-stage.

That unmistakeable scream is the first thing that jumps out of Cold Chisel’s first album in 14 years. Spraying f-bombs over a blues jam, circa ‘Rising Sun’, Barnes comes out swinging with ‘No Plans’, while the band flexes its honky-tonk. “In the sun, smokin’ a cigarette, no plans” is as good as a statement of intent from the band who have weathered the intervening years, lost their beloved friend, drummer, Steve Prestwich, and returned to active service revered as rock ’n’ roll icons, with no intention of changing to suit turbulent times.

It’s all vintage Chisel – none of the soul trappings Barnesy is so fond of on his solo outings, no backing singers, horns or electronica. Just simple, blues-based rock coming from the same place the band did – the pub-rock circuit that spawned Billy Thorpe and AC/DC and was the breeding ground for everything that followed. For a band like Cold Chisel, the point of a new album isn’t about breaking new ground or finding new audiences – barring some Konyesque fluke of popular culture, it’s about feeding their established fan-base, proving they’ve still got the

cojones to rock royally, and, gods-willing, coming up with a new classic – a ‘Khe Sanh’, or at the very least, a ‘Flame Trees’.

Credited with all but three songs, Don Walker is a peerless songwriter, whose place in the Oz rock canon is assured with his Chisel back-catalogue, as well as his Tex, Don and Charlie masterpieces, not to mention peer accolades from the likes of Paul Kelly. These songs aren’t however, his finest work. They are of a piece with the sonic ambitions of an album aimed squarely at the demographic that grew up with Cold Chisel. If the show I attended on their recent sell-out tour was any indication, that’s the middle-aged, predominately male, one-time hell-raisers who could afford the ludicrously priced drinks and merchandise, and crowded into the Brisbane Entertainment Centre with comfortable guts tucked into their Jack Daniels t-shirts.

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The first single, ‘Everybody’, lampoons modern mass-media fetishes, against a contagiously sleazy piano groove and some of Walker’s tightest lyrical twists. In ‘All for You’, Barnesy’s vocal cords have warmed up. Crooning “… and I’m young again, and it feels so good to be alive”, he’s lost the squawk and got the warble on for a sentimental ballad, celebrating the mellowed temperament of the crazy kids of the Sunbury era, weaned on weed and VB, driving muscle cars into trouble with the law.

‘HQ454 Monroe’, a co-write with Troy Cassar-Daley, whose artistry resides in making working class blokes and their toys feel special, guarantees the album will join the play-list of the trailer park boys on the hill at Bathurst. Driving rock and proto-misogynistic gems like “You said I had to choose between my muscle car and you, my queen/ there was only one way that could ever go” will propel this song into a drive-time radio spot. In a self-penned, robust rocker, Barnesy finds some high vocal ground while Moss lays down a psychedelic camouflage, demonstrating that as far as advancing the evolution of music, the truth most certainly is ‘Dead and Laid to Rest’.

‘Missing A Girl’ is the closest stab at a Bic-anthem in the mode of ‘Flame Trees’, the lovestruck hero stuck in an airport while his paramour drops him via SMS. Ian Moss’s only contribution, ‘Too Late’ (which I bet he wishes he’d had written in time for his solo outings), is an almost flawless rock anthem that doesn’t quite capture the contagious momentum of ‘Bow River’. Moss’s amazingly intact vocal abilities and always exquisite, if heavyhanded, guitar-work were showcased on the recent tour and are an integral part of Chisel’s enduring appeal. Meanwhile, ‘I Gotta Get Back on the Road’ rampages down familiar highways and ends up in an R&B cul-de-sac; ‘Our Old Flame’ is clearly the unadulterated blues music favoured by the band; and ‘The Horizon’ makes peace with its crazy past (again).

Departed drummer Steve Prestwich delivers a hauntingly prescient finale, one of the best songs on the album, in fact, with a tidy vocal that showcases the depth of talent in this band. ‘I Got Things To Do’ is the husky declaration of a man who can clearly see the end and sets about getting there, clear-eyed, and with less fuss and bother than his sentimental bandmates. ~Mick Daley

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reverb magazin e issue #068 — April 2012 21

a m ber l a w re n ce

E

nter Amber Lawrence, a city girl with a country heart. Unlike many of her peers in the music industry, Lawrence’s family wasn’t musical, nor did she favour any particular genre of music while she was growing up. “We just weren’t the sort of family who listened to music a lot,” she says. But the first time she heard country music, Lawrence felt right at home — it was very much in tune with who she is, and what she loves — an opportunity to tell a story.

Spending her early working life as a chartered accountant after graduating from UNSW, Amber took the leap to career singer/songwriter around six years ago.

With the support of her parents and the encouragement of her vocal coach, Lawrence started exploring her musical options. She says she ventured into her local record store, and stumbled across the country music section. “I just loved it,” she said.

Her talent for guitar-playing was fostered by a relationship break-up. “He had given me a guitar for Christmas,” says Lawrence.

“After we broke up, I lay there with that guitar and wrote a song about how I was feeling.” Heartfelt songs of love and loss like this are exactly what Lawrence’s fans love about her performances. “The songs I write and perform are about real situations, real feelings,” she says.

Three albums later, with a huge fan base and an amazing list of accolades under her belt, including five Golden Guitar nominations, six number one songs, the coveted Horizon award, and the 2010 Southern Star Independent Country Music Awards Album of the Year, Lawrence says she is already living her dream.

“I’m doing what I love to do,” she says, looking remarkably relaxed for someone who was

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magazin e issue #068 — April 2012

The Country in the Girl AMBER LAWRENCE first heard country music when she stumbled across it in her local music store. It was the start of a great love affair that has seen this city gal swap her calculator for a guitar and take her heartfelt songs to the stage.

ROSS BECKLEY and VERONIQUE MOSELEY spoke to Lawrence about hitting her stride as a rising star in Australian country music. in Newcastle early in the morning for a presentation; stopped in at producer Rod McCormack’s studio on the central coast for a few hours, to work on an edit of her latest video; then squeezed in an interview

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before heading down to Sydney for a gig later that night. Not a sign of stress — just pure enthusiasm. It’s the kind of passion and dedication that have been the backbone of Lawrence’s fast rise in popularity. Add to that,

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her insistence on personally keeping in touch with fans on social media sites such as Facebook — confirming that Lawrence doesn’t just sing about real life circumstances with a conviction fans love, she actually walks the country music talk — valuing sharing, genuine expression and loyalty.

According to Lawrence, her second album was focused on the upside of life as she made a conscious effort to move forward after the death of her father. “Life is what you make of it,” she says. While Three acknowledges the ups and downs of life, Lawrence is a ‘glass half-full’ kind of gal.

‘Everybody’s A Mess’, written with Suzy Connolly, reminds us to be responsible for our own happiness and stop comparing ourselves to other people. And once again, the results show that Lawrence has an innate ability to hit a chord with her audience — a few weeks ago, her first single from Three hit Number 1 on both the CMC Top 30 countdown and the CMR Radio Top 30.

Lawrence says she is fortunate to have a wonderful group of very talented people supporting her. Golden Guitar-winning producer McCormack is one who adds his magic to the Amber Lawrence package, along with fellow Australian country music performers such as Adam Harvey, who joins Lawrence on the album with ‘The Peace I Keep’. From the Gympie Muster to the Deni Ute Muster, Amber Lawrence has performed to sell-out crowds, delivering energetic performances, genuine stories and life lessons, and having the time of her life.

Amber Lawrence, along with Adam Harvey, performs at Club Singleton on Friday April 20, and Newcastle Panthers on Saturday April 21.

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I mean he’s got a lot of stuff going on in his life. I have to say, though, this tour has been awesome so far, so it’s all good. We’ll get someone else and they’ll be good as well.

Any ideas on who your next kit man or woman will be? Are you having auditions?

I’d like to get a really old man, or an 80-year-old woman, or a really young kid.

[But] we’re trying not to think about that.

We’re going to get the tour out of the way and then concentrate on that afterwards.

Building a Monument With a new album under their belts; a new tour underway and a new drummer on the cards, life for CHILDREN COLLIDE is anything but boring. MEL ROACH spoke with vocalist and guitarist, JOHNNY MACKAY. I’ve read that you’ve thrown all genres out the window and that each of the 12 songs on the new album have their own sound. It’s even been described as a ‘theme park’ of songs?

Yeah, I haven’t actually heard that first description of throwing genres out the window but it’s pretty accurate. We’ve got some more psychedelic type stuff and the ‘theme park’ was just something I came out with at the time to describe the album.

You recorded Monument in a single Collingwood studio, whereas your previous album was recorded in five studios over four countries. Was this approach beneficial?

It was definitely more of a family vibe because my manger was there. I recorded

my demos with him — he’s someone we know and trust… enough to have one of those frank discussions [if] necessary. [But] for me, I could be a little distracted because there were a lot of people I knew that I could hang out with on the weekends.

Your last album Theory of Everything was nominated for an ARIA award — do you expect the same with Monument?

I wouldn’t have a clue. I actually find it absurd that they have things like that. It’s a compliment — people thinking that we’re as good as other people, or better than other people, but I find it quite absurd. It’s like the Frank Zappa quote, ‘’dancing about architecture”.

So you don’t want to be compared to other artists?

Well, not really. It’s like comparing a recording we made to a recording Guy Sebastian made — it’s quite absurd.

Your drummer Ryan Caesar will be calling it a day after this tour. He’s been with you guys since 2007. What happened?

It’s typical. We shared a room for years on tour. I don’t know if you’ve had to sleep in the same room as your workmates but sometimes it doesn’t work. He’s one of the greatest drummers in this country and he’s a great guy. It was just a whole lot of little things, I guess, that just built up over time, that made it kind of awkward for everyone.

At the Nick Cave Tribute show at Newcastle Panthers, you were going a little crazy for your first song. I saw a local techie chasing after the mic stand you kept throwing around.

Do you love your techies and roadies? [laughs] Yeah, I loved that techie! I remember him, he’s amazing. In fact, that tour, there were so many different singers and guitarists and changes in every different song, and he handled it so well. I don’t actually know too many techies that would have known how to handle that without getting stressed out. But he was always there with a smile on his face and had everything under control. I’m sorry if I was a jerk but hey, I think they kind of enjoy that stuff — they enjoy that stress. It gives them something to do, much better then standing side of stage tuning guitars.

Like the security — they love it when artists jump into the crowd or when there’s crowd surfers.

Yeah, totally. Why would they not love that?

The security love it — they honestly do!

Monument is available April 20 through Universal Music.

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henry rollins

Is Australia a receptive audience to what you do?

This [tour] will be my 27th or 28th trip to Australia. I love my Australian audiences madly [and] I try to attend to them as best I can. It’s been a fantastic audience since day one. They got into my band [Black Flag] before there was even a record to sell them. I’m very grateful.

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When you started doing these “talking shows” and shifted your focus from music, how long was it before you noticed people coming to see you that weren’t Black Flag or Rollins Band fans?

That seems to happen more and more. A lot of people will come up and say, “hey, I’ve been coming to the talking shows for many years. My friends played me some of your music. With all due respect, it’s really not my thing. But I love it when you do the talking shows.” That happens more and more, and I don’t really care. If you don’t like my music, that’s great. That anyone shows up to see what I do, I’m just grateful for that.

It’s clear that you’re constantly on the move and between Australian tours it seems you’ve been continually travelling to new and interesting places — do you ever take a break?

Yeah, I kind of downshift. But I’m a work slut.

I’m always working. Like over the Christmas holiday I had a week off the road and I just spent it at the office working on some stuff.

Cleaning, listening to music and preparing for the tour I was about to leave for. It was restful in that I slept for as long as I felt like — which the body needs now and then.

I made my own meals, which is enjoyable.

I listened to the proverbial buttload of music, which is always great. I didn’t have a deadline, but I was still working. I was just working in second gear instead of fourth. But as far as going somewhere and just sitting around and getting tanned? No. I just don’t think that way. I travel to places, but I go to countries that are tough — where it’s me and mosquitoes that carry malaria. It’s not restful, but it is eventful — and I’ll take eventful over restful anytime. I will do hardcore one and two day knockouts — visit a girl and do 48 hours of ‘okay, it’s just going to be about you and me’. No phones, no nothing — Henry gets 48 hours of fun and frolic, which a human needs now and then.

When you go to a particular country do you appropriate subject matter for your shows there — and do you like to be across what is happening politically and socially in that country at the time?

To a certain extent, but not to the point of being disingenuous. I’m not going to sit there and study your country so that I can say, “boy, Fremantle really sucks at football this year!”. Because my audience is smart and they’re going to go, “oh really? Fuck you”. I will go out of my way to the point of blood loss to not insult my audience. That, to me, is verboten. However, if something is going on in that country that is of interest to me, I’m not going to not say anything.

If I can weigh in with high-caloric content, I’ll do it. But if your government isn’t starting a war or shooting its citizens, then you’re probably off my radar screen right now because I have such a bunch of comedic, whacky Republicans in my country who think they’re going to be president and that takes up a lot of my day.

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You’ve been doing some photography on your travels — have you been wanting to try your hand at photography for a while?

I learnt how to develop film in school as a kid and used to take a camera with me far and wide. Then I became incredibly broke doing music — if I had a camera I would have boiled it and eaten it. Later on in the 90s I got a point-and-shoot camera. Then you quickly get to the confines of that — a fixed lens that you can’t do anything with. No F-stop. It became time for me to get a big boy camera and go back to full frame, which I hadn’t done since high school. So I went to the camera store with a pro-photographer friend of mine called Mora and I said, “all right Mora, here’s my credit card”.

Anyone who has seen your talking shows knows that your delivery is rapid and you often talk for two hours without a break.

Do you have a strict script in your head or do you allow yourself to go on tangents?

There’s a very scripted list of topics and I allow myself to go tangential inside of the topic. I don’t just walk out on stage and go, “okay, let’s see... dogs are funny!” I would never warm up in front of an audience. I think that’s grossly insulting. When you

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henry rollins

A towering, explosive presence in front of the groups Black Flag and Rollins Band, HENRY ROLLINS continues to be a vehement voice of reason, compassion and logic. A man of exhaustive energy and an undying desire to absorb the world’s vast array of cultures, the once hardcore vocalist is returning to Australia with his latest spoken-word tour — or ‘talking show’ as he prefers to call them.

Reverb alumnus NICK MILLIGAN spoke to Rollins about his travels, photography and pre-show rituals and what it’s like to have fans that don’t like his music.

disrespect someone’s time, you may as well piss on their foot. I will not insult an audience, so I am heavily prepared. I’m extremely dialled in, to the point where two hours before the show I’m pacing the hallway, talking out loud and working through ideas.

And are you constantly trying to work your most recent experiences into the show and keep it fresh?

Oh, yeah. It’s a stew pot. You’re continually cutting up more carrots and potatoes and throwing them in as news breaks and things are happening to me and to the world. Like if something blows up in a country and I was there last year, I’ll tell you about it. It keeps me awake. It’s like going on tour with music, you’re always looking for a new song to play to an audience.

How does the experience of talking on stage for two hours compare to fronting a hardcore band? Is it a similar release of energy?

[In a band] there’s hardcore caloric burn.

But in terms of mental intensity, [the talking show] makes a band show [look] easy. [In a band show] you have the set and the song — you know what they are. You’re one fourth or one fifth of the people on stage so when you screw up, the snare drum covers it. The

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way I always played music was to be as fiercely physical as possible — to the point of exhaustion and passing out. That was hard because every night you’re fighting twelve rounds. That takes a hardcore mindset and a body that can take it. [But] the talking shows are the hardest on-stage performances I’ve ever done. Because being hard physically isn’t hard — you just have to learn to take a lot of pain. You just expand your threshold for pain, which is not that hard. It’s like putting a hoop in your ear. Every week you make the hoop a little wider and pretty soon you can drive a car through it.

So do you find the talking shows more cathartic than playing a music gig?

No. I’m wound up [after a talking show] because there wasn’t the physical release.

That’s why I go to the gym to make sure the body’s worn out, so I can sleep. If I don’t hit the gym on a show day, getting to sleep is very difficult. Since you can’t work out seven days without having body failure, there are those unenviable post-show nights where it’s 11.30 and I’m back on the tour bus and now I’m ready to go to the gym.

You’ve been to some dangerous places — what have been the scariest

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experiences you’ve had? Any times you thought you were in genuine trouble?

Well, yeah. I’ve nearly been killed a couple of times. In one situation the guy shot four [bullets] — put two in my friend and killed him; missed me by inches. That was a real homicide. The other time, years before, a guy tried to stab me to death but these guys pulled him off me. But those times were in America. The rest of the world has been really friendly to me because I’m not looking for a fight with anyone. I was in a mortar attack in Baghdad, but I was in a thick-walled building so nothing was going to happen to me. I go to these countries alone [and] I think sometimes when you’re walking the streets alone people kind of respect it. Like when you’re in a Middle Eastern country and you’re so obviously not from there. In Iran, people walked up and were like, “what are you doing here?”

And I always employed the same ice-breaker — I’d say, “I’m here to meet you!”, which made them laugh. Then I’d say, “hey, I’m Henry, man. What’s happening?” and I would stick my hand out and they’d shake it. Then all of a sudden you’re talking about the weather.

I’ve done this in Tehran, Islamabad, Damascus, Beirut, Cleveland... wherever.

When people see that you’re obviously

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curious about their culture they’re amazed that you came all that way. I’ve been invited into homes, had meals cooked for me, afternoon coffee, tea in the souq. I was doing that on the day after [former Prime Minister, Benazir] Bhutto was killed in Pakistan. I was there. I went outside and looked at everything on fire and nobody tried to kill me. I’m not saying it can’t happen. It’s not like they look at me and run away — you’ve got to be careful. But life’s too short. I’m not living under a damn rock. No way.

Michael Franti made a documentary, I Know I’m Not Alone, where he walked the streets of Iraq and the Middle East with his guitar — it was amazing how welcoming and generous everyone was to him.

That happens all the time. You go to places like Burma and you meet people who are dirt poor, and they’re trying to find things to give you. You’re like, “whoa, take it easy!”. But you see that there are different cultures in the world. The amount of generosity that is inherent in non-Western cultures is truly something to behold.

Henry Rollins appears at Newcastle Panthers on Tuesday, April 24.

reverb magazin e issue #068 — April 2012 25

s t o n ef i e l d m i x - t a p e

APRIL

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SUN 1 SOUTHERLY CHANGE THUR 5 G. NUNAN PROJECT SUN 8 VOODOO EXPRESS THUR 12 SET SAIL FRI 13 BLACK FRIDAY FANCY DRESS SAT 14 HIS MERRY MEN THUR 19 TOOT TOOT TOOTS FRI 20 METHOD SAT 28 MAITLAND STEAMFEST S U N 2 9 T H E G U M B A L L R E C O V E R Y PA R T Y

Stonefield Mixtape With new single, ‘Bad Reality’, on the airwaves and their debut album set for release later in the year, Stonefield’s vocalist and drummer Amy Findlay opens up her record collection and delivers the goss on what really pops her cork.

F r o m h e r p a r e n t ’ s c o ll e c t i o n

F r o m A m y ’ s c o ll e c t i o n

Led Zeppelin

Adalita

Led Zeppelin is probably our all-time favourite band and I think there’s something really special about a band’s first album.

Although it may not have been their strongest, it was their statement of who they were musically and what an incredible statement it was. This album, along with every other Zeppelin one, has been a huge inspiration to us and a large part of our musical upbringing.

No offence to the kind of female singers that do the whole airy-fairy thing, but it isn’t really for me. I respect them and all, but I like female voices with strength and I think the way Adalita has written and sung these beautiful, heartfelt, contemporary songs with such strength is amazing.

Led Zeppelin I

Cat Stevens

Tea For The Tillerman

This album is the soundtrack for so many childhood memories, running around barefoot in dress-ups on our little farm.

There is so much beauty in the lyrics of this music. The way he uses words and music to tell a story is something really special.

Frank Zappa One Size Fits All

Growing up we listened to a hell of a lot of Zappa, and I’m not going to lie, it took us a while to appreciate it. This album is the one that managed to grab our attention and a huge respect for Frank’s music.

The man is a genius, both musically and satirically.

Jimi Hendrix

Are You Experienced

A total ripper of an album — so many great songs and such an awesome sound. One of the first songs we learnt when we started playing as a band was ‘Purple Haze’. This album has also been quite influential on Hannah’s guitar playing. There are always backing tracks blaring from her room as she practises Hendrix riffs!

Adalita

Mutemath Odd Soul

Mutemath are a great band and we love the direction and sound they have with this album. It’s that whole old-school sound with a modern touch and such a soulful voice.

Black Keys El Camino

They just never stop giving out the gold.

That dirty, gritty sound is amazing and I think it’s wonderful that this band have become so successful with good old rock ‘n’ roll.

Band of Skulls Sweet Sour

We got hooked on Band Of Skulls when we were in LA and visited Nick Launay’s studio. He had been mixing some of their songs at the time and gave us a preview, saying they were influenced by a lot of the same bands as us. The sound was huge and had us completely hooked!

Foo Fighters Wasting Light

This album is very special to us because it is full of memories from their Sydney gig where we were very fortunate to support them. It was amazing to see the power and energy these songs had over the audience when played live.

The Doors The Doors

That classic recording sound of the fourtrack is raw, warm and just so good. The organ is obviously something that we love in rock music and have in our own sound.

Morrison is wacky, lyrically genius and this album is crazy magic.

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Stonefield perform at the Great Northern Hotel, Byron Bay, on Thursday April 19; Coolangatta Hotel on Sunday April 22; Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle, on Saturday April 28.

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magazin e issue #068 — April 2012

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fa s h i o n — p h o t o g ra p h y b y re m o t e

Duncan wears Red and white bonnet, $90. Printed ladies’ vest, $200. Printed ladies’ shorts, $180. fuck under

garments, $35. Remote-control belt, $40. Star spangled spanner shoulder pads, $180. Assorted cuffs, $10ea.

Lou wears Printed bonnet, $120. Printed men’s vest $200. Men’s short shorts, $160. Assorted cuffs, $10ea.

Unisex printed denim coat, $150. Remote-control necklace, $40. Fuck undergarments, $35ea. Jesse wears Remote-control necklace, $50. Printed short shorts, $200. Remote control belt, $60 Shoulder pads, $200.

Photography by Remote Modelling by Jesse Mackintosh, Duncan Wilson, Lou Sykes Style by Jesse Mackintosh, Duncan Wilson

Clothing is available from Channon Market, Con Artist Market, or at nogoodclothing.wordpress.com Find us on Facebook

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t ra v e l — cr u i s i n g w i t h s t e v e b u rr i t o

Cruising With Burrito Prepare yourself for rum, buggery and the lash. STEVE BURRITO has finally been let out of the bowels of the Reverb offices to have a shot at being a travel writer. So with a seasoned liver (and a promise not to make a complete dick of myself while wearing the company pants), my first assignment is to cruise the Pacific on the mighty MV Pacific Dawn. If I get this right I could become Reverb’s very own Catriona Rowntree.

Okay, so how does a person prepare for a cruise? Well that’s easy. Watch 30 or 40 episodes of The Love Boat of course — a tactic that unfortunately also left me a few psychological scars, including a permanent loop of that moronic theme tune in the confines of my skull and a burning desire to wear bad 80s fashion (my favourite colours are pastel and I’m busily growing a killer mullet).

There was, however, one fear that I wasn’t able to erase with my sitcom-induced brainwashing. The reason I’ve never taken a cruise before is that I’ve always thought of them as floating RSL clubs full of old people doing weird old people shit. Would I be surrounded by Valium-popping bingo maniacs? Would I be the only person not sporting a low-slung colostomy bag? And my worst fear of all — would my frequently misguided beer goggles cause me to wake up next to someone offering me “a biscuit and a nice cup of tea”? Only time will tell.

THE PASSENGERS

My first surprise was that there were plenty of very attractive party girls and rum pigs ready to drink and dance until dawn. From what I can remember they seemed quite friendly. They did however become increasingly blurry after the fourth or fifth day. But all in all, it was just like being at home on the party front.

THE SHIP

It’s a big white thing filled with alcohol. The pool has a bar.

The casino has a bar. The gym might have a bar. The bars

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seem to have bars. Whenever you sit down someone brings you a drink. When you eat something, someone brings you a drink. When you dance they bring you drinks. When you drink they bring you drinks. There may have been other parts of the ship. I’m not sure.

THE CABIN

I think I had one. I think it was brown. Everyone in there was half-naked and drunk. I think the cabin also had a window, but that might have been someone else’s cabin.

THE FOOD

Oh so much food, and it was really nice and in the most part free. At one stage I found myself inside a really flash restaurant called The Salt Grill. I usually don’t like fancy restaurants because they’re full of poncy wankers, but this one was quite nice and well worth leaving the bar for.

THE ENTERTAINMENT

There’s only one word to describe the entertainment — bizarre, but in a good way. okay, not like freak show goodness — there were no sword-swallowing gimp wrestlers. But you’re going to see stuff that you didn’t know existed. You will also catch some reasonable comedians, some fairly good DJs and an overworked covers band. But it was the weird stuff I couldn’t turn away from. I was like a rabbit in a big cheesy headlight. I won’t spoil it by giving away too much here, but the all-white Michael Jackson tribute band was just a small sidestep into a very odd little universe. I

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came away feeling confused, violated, relieved and vaguely entertained. I think I need therapy.

THE TOILETS

You just have to take a crap on one of these ships. It’s fantastic, but be warned: close the lid before you flush — I think the bloody things are jet-powered. I tried flushing with the lid up once and I think I lost a thong, my virginity and a new friend named Geri.

SEA SICKNESS

I didn’t think sea sickness would be a problem. If anyone is used to rooms swaying it’s me. But just in case, I ate ginger tablets and I think they worked. I don’t usually recommend drugs that seem to have no perceivable affect, but ginger tablets could be my placebo of choice.

VALUE

Cruising seemed to be great value. When else does an accommodation booking include as much food as you can eat, a handful of tropical islands and some of the strangest entertainment you’ll ever see? If you’re looking for something different to do with a bunch of mates that won’t break the bank, this is a great option.

And let’s face it, Surfers Paradise is a cock-size competition and Byron Bay is just an overpriced version of Ulladulla. A holiday on the Pacific Dawn is a great alternative. And they promise not to run into any Mediterranean islands at all.

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t o e n a i l c l i p p i n g s — cr u n c h y f o r t u n e s

Profiling music industry professionals

Name? Larry Heath Whom do you work for? The AU Review.

Current position title? Editor-in-chief.

How long have you been in this position?

Just under four years.

What are your main responsibilities?

Working with and co-ordinating over 100 contributors and volunteers from around Australia and the world.

How did you get involved in the music industry? By chance, really. I was requested to publish an article on live music for a newspaper in the UK. I enjoyed the process more than I expected and decided to create my own music publication on return home.

fortunes

Steve Burrito’s crunchy fortunes

Aries: Beer we go, beer we go, beer we go. Excellent news for you this month, very soon you will punch Kyle Sandilands right in his big fat face. Well done little fella. Your lucky thing will be everything, and your lucky smell will be victory.

Leo: Some time in the future you will consider becoming a league fan, but you’ll opt for juggling oranges and punching yourself in the genitals instead. Which should be a lot more entertaining. Your lucky wrestling move is the Boston Crab.

Sagittarius: This month you will learn South African, the language of luff. Contrary news on the phobia front, as your fear of heights will be replaced with a fear of widths. Don’t be surprised if you find my Venus in Uranus.

Taurus: I know your other horoscope said you’d come into money and find true love, but that was written by a bubble headed optimist that farts rainbows.

At least when I lie to you, you don’t get your hopes up. Eat more cheese.

Virgo: Laughter is the best medicine — unless you’re diabetic, then insulin might prove pretty handy. Always remember to do unto others. Do it hard and do it over and over again. They love it. Your lucky smell will be mysterious.

Capricorn: Cheer up. Failure is just nature’s way of telling you that you’re not good enough. Things could be worse. No — on second thoughts, that’s crap. The stars indicate that this month you’ll find happiness and fortune. Nah, that’s crap too.

Gemini: There is a chance you will be bummed by a zebra this month. It’s not a big chance, but I’m just letting you know. Your unlucky colours this month will be black and white, obviously.

Your lucky flavour will be llama

Libra: Happy meals don’t make you happy. They should be called big, pimply tastes-like-fat-dipped-in-salt meals with a stupid toy. Then we’d be happy. Well, maybe not. Can anyone tell me why constable is always spelt wrong?

Aquarius: What’s the first rule of mime club? This month you will be given the choice between looking like a hipster, or stapling your genitals to your leg. Go the stapler. It’s less painful. Your lucky flavour is fluff in tofu.

Cancer: This month you will awake from a terrible dream in which you went to watch V8 super car races, over and over again. I think you may have some kind of brain damage. Your lucky car part will be the stereo.

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Scorpio: Sad news, your chakra needs alignment, your aura has faded and your horoscope predicts tough times ahead. But on the bright side your bullshit quota seems to be full to overflowing. Your lucky sea creature is the velvet worm

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Pisces: Did you just queef?

I’m sure you just queefed.

Later this month your dream of joining a band will finally come true. Unfortunately it’s a Bon Jovi tribute a capella gimp ball choir, but you’ll fit right in. Your lucky lane is the left.

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Proudest moment? When we released our first instalment of the Australia’s Year in Music book series, in March 2011. Holding the product in my hands — you can’t quite describe the feeling.

Is there anyone you would really like to meet (living or dead)? Bill Clinton.

Best live show you’ve been to? Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band in an intimate venue (ACL Live) performing a three hour show with the likes of Eric Burdon (The Animals), Tom Morello, Jimmy Cliff, The Low Anthem, Arcade Fire, and more...

Favourite venue? Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver Favourite instrument? The cow bell

Who should we be listening to? Caitlin Park — Check out Milk Annual. It’s a gem!

What would be on your ultimate rider?

Margaritas and In n Out Burgers; a masseuse; Dave Grohl to party and rock out with.

Best way to spend a Sunday morning?

Sleeping Any advice for people trying to break into the industry? If you don’t have patience, this isn’t the industry for you.

If you’re looking to earn a quick buck, this isn’t the industry for you.

reverb magazin e issue #068 — April 2012 31

s u i t ca s e r o y a l e

Beware the Wombat Since 2004, a trio of Melbournites have been merging original music, dance, puppetry and theatre to create unique works of twisted humour. Their latest production, Zombatland, is no exception — a masterfully mad tale from the Blue Lagoon Caravan Park, an idyllic paradise somewhere in the dead heart of Australia. Wombats are the main attraction, loved by all, until a mysterious disease transforms them into bloodthirsty zombies.

KEVIN BULL speaks with SUITCASE ROYALE member JOSEPH O’FARRELL about his cannibalisation of our hairy-nosed natives.

You describe yourselves as a junkyard theatre company. What is junkyard theatre?

Junkyard theatre is a two-lane highway.

One lane refers to ‘junk’. We literally find all of our props on the side of the road. We sift through people’s junk and make shows out of what we find. The other lane refers to our idea of throwing everything on stage: live music, comedy, theatrical imagery — all the things we want to see when we go to a show and [that] keep us pumped about making a live experience that is accessible and fun for everyone.

Your latest work is Zombatland. I know wombats can be a nasty bunch but where did the idea of zombie wombats come from?

We read an article about families camping and being woken up in the middle of the night to the growls of big fat wombats trying to get into their tents to get their food. We thought it would be funny to make a show about evil wombats. They are animals that look like big bums with faces.

Zombatland has already been performed in the UK. How did they take to the idea of Australia now having a flesh-eating marsupial to contend with?

They loved it! The response was really great. We did have to research if they knew what wombats were and how much we had to explain what a wombat was. But we had a ball in the UK. We’ve worked really hard over the past two years touring the UK and we’ve found a great audience there.

What can audiences expect from Zombatland?

A whole lot of fun — heaps of live music and a lot of junk! No two Suitcase Royale shows are the same, so anything could happen. We are really looking forward to doing our show up in Lismore and meeting everyone after the show.

What do you need to consider when producing music for theatre?

We are lucky now as we tour as both a band and a theatre group. We approach our theatre shows like a gig. So if the songs are up to that level, they get in. We aren’t interested in writing joke songs, we want to write songs that give us and the audience a burst of energy.

You’ve been compared to Tom Waits and Nick Cave, as well as the League of Gentlemen and The Mighty Boosh. Why do you think you draw those comparisons?

It feels like a framework that allows people to categorise our work. It’s a lovely compliment and has certainly helped international audiences access our work.

Our shows are pretty off-the-wall but at the same time quite dark.

Zombatland performs at the Lismore City Hall on Saturday April 21.

32 reverb magazin e issue #059 — June #068 — April2011 2012

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g e n era l m o t o r i n g

“The fun factor is high, it looks good and it’s affordable.”

Sweet & Swift “It’s a girl’s car,” according to the teenage kid down the road. And you have to admit most drivers of the Suzuki Swift five-door hatch seem to be young women. Why? Who knows… sensible, reliable and economical, not to mention cute looks, easy to drive and not too big?

But now there’s a new Swift to ignite the passions of a different kind of driver.

Something with a bit more mongrel in the tank — the new Swift Sports, a 21st century Swift GTi for want of a better name. It’s still not a fully blown sports hatch by any stretch of the imagination, and would be no match for the VW Polo GTi. But Suzuki has been profitably making cars for 62 years and has learned a thing or two about the right products for its target market. The Swift Sports is a prime example.

Suzuki prefers to take the tried and true path, in terms of technology and engineering, and that means holding back a tad on current trends. It’s evident in the Swift Sports which doesn’t get direct fuel injection, turbo charging or anything tricky like that, no thank you.

Keeping it simple allows Suzuki to sell the car for an affordable $23,990 plus on roads.

The Sports looks a bit like a baseball cap on wheels from the side but is nevertheless cool and cute with a pinch of attitude and sharpish dynamics that make it a feel-good drive even if you aren’t going warp speed.

Suzuki is catering for non-manual drivers this time around with a CVT auto option.

We didn’t get to sample that one but would suggest it would be underwhelming like all

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CVT cars.

A new philosophy is prevailing at Suzuki that sees the Sports benefit from weight cuts, minor engine tweaks to boost economy as much as performance, suspension and handling upgrades and subtle body add-ons to aid aerodynamics and therefore fuel efficiency.

THE ENGINE

Power comes from a pretty straightforward 1.6-litre, twin cam, petrol four-cylinder — good for 100kW/160Nm output and fuel consumption as low as 6.1-litres/100km.

A variable intake system and variable valve timing and lift help optimise efficiency, though 100kW ain’t anything to write home about.

The manual is a six-speed and the CVT complete with paddle shift has ‘steps’ to mimic a manual when it’s in sequential mode.

RIDE/HANDLING

It’s pretty simple underneath, too, with struts up front and a torsion beam down the back.

They’re calibrated to give a sporty feel and surprisingly neat handling without jolting your back teeth loose. Pity the tyres are so skinny. Discs are fitted at both ends but they’re small and don’t look like they would be up to the task on a winding mountain road despite having ‘special’ pads and calliper internals.

Electric steering has been adopted for the first time, calibrated to give sharp response, and the alloy wheels are lightweight to reduce unsprung weight and optimise suspension

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action and steering response. The Sports weighs a lowish 1060kg.

HOW SAFE?

It gets a five-star gong which means seven air bags, stability control and the selective use of high strength steel throughout the body/ chassis. Pedestrian safety is also high and the car’s dynamics are a primary safety feature to avoid collisions in the first place.

STYLING.

Although completely ‘new’, the latest Swift looks like the earlier model unless you park them side by side. Pity, because that look is becoming a tad dated. Having said that, it still has a cute face and looks chunky on the road — infinitely better than some other offerings in the class which are straight out bland and boring.

The mild aero kit includes a rear roof spoiler and under bumper diffuser, complete with dual wide-spaced exhaust tips. Side skirts and a deeper front apron complete the picture.

There are no LED daytime running lights, though.

Inside is generic Japanese with metres of hard grey plastic moulded into a semi-pleasing shape and containing cheap switchgear and an OK audio — OK by Suzuki standards which aren’t very high. The high point is a decent leather-clad steering wheel and cloth seat upholstery.

WHAT YOU GET

Suzuki has been generous with Sports specs,

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Suzuki Swift Sports r e vi e wed by

Peter Douglas equipping it with bi-xenon headlights, Bluetooth phone and audio, keyless entry and start, cruise control and climate control, aircon and other stuff. The sports seats have red piping and good side bolsters to hold you in place around corners. The wheels are 17-inch with low profile sports rubber.

THE DRIVE.

It’s a great little car to drive, plain and simple, and the fact you don’t have to be doing 160kph to enjoy yourself is a big plus. It’s a handy tool in the city, carves it up on the freeway and is excellent on a winding mountain road.

In terms of drivability, Suzuki has really nailed it in the Swift Sports. It has a sweet shift action in the manual which also boasts relatively close gear ratios. The engine spins out willingly to redline at around 7000rpm and the ride isn’t too hard but doesn’t lose it on the track. But it sounds crap — the exhaust note is a wheeze despite having two outlets. It needs a dual mode exhaust which might even yield a bit more power.

The new Swift Sports is an improvement on the previous under-done model but is it enough? Depends. The fun factor is high, it looks good and it’s affordable but 140kW would be a better number for a car like this — something to really pin back your ears and extend the chassis to what it is undoubtedly capable of handling. Cheap to own and run, though, and none of the insurance hassles you get with a turbo car.

reverb magazin e issue #068 — April 2012 33

album Reviews Feature albums

Hilltop Hoods Drinking From The Sun Golden Era

4/5

The Hilltop Hoods are a big name in Australian hip-hop and their sixth studio album Drinking From The Sun lives up to expectations. The approach they’ve taken with writing a follow-up to the hugely successful State Of The Art is interesting.

Drinking From The Sun feels a little bit darker and more poignant. The strings in the title track had me on edge from the start and when the beat drops it’s breathtaking. Catchy ‘I Love It’ was an obvious choice for radio, along with ‘The Underground’.

But ‘Rattling The Keys To The Kingdom’ is my pick, with its throaty drumbeats and fast-paced lyrics. You might even learn something astronomical while listening to ‘The Thirst Part 2’. ~Cormack O’Connor

Django Django

Django Django Because Music/Warner

4.5/5

You know an album is going to be kick-arse when The Guardian gives it 5/5! British band Django Django’s self-titled debut is an interesting, psychedelic whirlwind of synth, guitars, whistles, bass and pulsating rhythms. It’s the type of album that picks you up and transports you to another universe, with album art to match. The production is awesome and the catchy melodies give it an overall fun feel. Vincent Neff‘s vocals remind me of The Shins, as does the instrumentation on tracks such as ‘Life’s A Beach’. Stand out tracks include ‘Wor’ and ‘Love’s Dart’. ~Cormack O’Connor

kate Miller-Heidke Nightflight Sony

4.5/5

Nightflight is the latest release from Australian songstress Kate MillerHeidke. This album digs deeper into some of the more melancholy, deep lyrical themes that Heidke has only briefly explored on previous releases.

With lyrics touching on the topics of death, isolation and home sickness, this release is emotionally heavy and even dark in places. The song ‘Sarah’ is a standout, telling the story of a teenage girl going missing for weeks; it showcases Heidke’s amazing ability to immerse the listener in the story with powerful, dramatic music, perfectly suited to the theme of the song. The brilliantly produced music is always complimented by Heidke’s soft, sincere voice and whilst lyrically sombre in places, the subjects being touched on are universal. This is an album to think about, not dance to. ~Thomas Peasley

34 reverb mag azine azi ne issue #059 — June #068 — April2011 2012

Deus

Norah Jones

Liberator Music

Blue Note/EMI

Early in the Morning

4/5

4/5

Dew Process

Keep You Close

Little Broken Hearts

Belgian rock collective dEUS have been around for over 20 years but have consistently flown beneath the radar of critics and the listening masses. However that may be about to change with their sixth album, Keep You Close. The wonderfully deep and grungy voice of vocalist Tom Barman is complimented by a perfect mix of distorted guitars with a heavy emphasis on bass instrumentation. Highlights include ‘Keep You Close’, ‘Ghost’ and ‘The Final Blast’.

Like good Belgian chocolate, Keep You Close is smooth and sensual with a hint of exotic bitterness, creating a mysterious and enticing flavour. ~Josh Clements

The Hello Mornings

The Hello Mornings OPM

3.5/5

With any hint of a country twang sending me reaching for the stop button, Melbourne six-piece The Hello Morning had to work pretty damn hard to convince me with their self-titled debut. But convince me they did, country influences and all. Sounding somewhere between Spoon and The Lemonheads, the unique vocals add a nice touch to the overall sound and tracks like ‘Without You’ and ‘Stone Cold Lover’ had me grooving along.

I also enjoyed the softer tracks such as ‘Drive You Home’ with a touch of female vocals and strings. The album is a bit of a grower if you allow it and in the end I really enjoyed it. The Hello Morning have delivered a solid debut and I’m keen to see what the future has in store for them. ~Cormack O’Connor

The Phenomenal Handclap band Form and Control

Tummy Touch Records/Shock

3.5/5

A blend of funk, soul, reggae, dance, hip-hop and Brazilian beat, as well as rock, disco and electro. The Human League and MGMT meets Justice and The Steve Miller Band.

These are some of the ways people have tried to describe the Phenomenal Handclap Band’s second record Form and Control. Put simply - it’s fun, infectious, genre-defying pop. Australia was first introduced to PHB after their immensely catchy single ‘15 to 20’ appeared in a Bonds underwear commercial.

Form and Control has the same catchy pop tunes in spades. PHB’s many influences are on display from the start with ‘Following’ 80s synths marry with funk-inspired bass lines and vocoder vocals to create something truly unique. The eclectic mix continues into ‘The Right One’ - a disco track featuring keyboards, drum machine and funky guitar. Other standouts are the soulful title track and the more electro ‘Give’. Despite cramming so many different influences onto one record, Form and Control is easy listening. Kick back and tap your feet while images of girls rollerskating in their undies sweep through your head. ~Amelia Parrott

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When a multiple Grammy Awardwinning artist collaborates with one of the industry’s most creative producers, you know the results will be good. Co-written and produced by Danger Mouse, aka Brian Burton, Norah Jones’ fifth studio album, Little Broken Hearts is dark, moody and doesn’t disappoint. Burton’s influence is clear from the opening track, ‘Good Morning’ - a four-note piano riff jars against an acoustic guitar while Jones sweetly contemplates leaving her lover; a tinkling piano melody mimics her voice as deep strings fade in and out. The competing parts create an unusual rhythm and a far less conventional track than one might expect from Jones. Jones’ time performing in country three-piece The Little Willies has also had an influence on her music. The country influence can be heard on lonesome love songs ‘She’s 22’, ‘Out on the Road’ and the title track. There are also plenty of tracks with a more distinct Jones sound – ‘Take It Back’ and album highlight ‘Miriam’ have the velvety smooth, New York-after-dark vibe of her previous releases. Little Broken Hearts sees Jones perfectly marry the sounds of her birthplace, Brooklyn, and her childhood home, Texas. Despite the range of influences on the album, the record hangs together thanks to Jones’ sultry smooth and effortless delivery. ~Amelia Parrott

CarterRollins CarterRollins Universal

3.5/5

Justin Carter (guitars) and Johnny Rollins (drums) are the Victorian duo comprising CarterRollins.

Their self-titled EP is a pleasant antidote to the summer hangover, boasting six short, punchy surf rock tunes with addictive pop inflections and slick harmonising. The duo’s indisputable chemistry and balanced songwriting are the most striking aspects of this enjoyable release. They storm out of the gate with the poppy hooks and rock edge of ‘Party’, displaying the solid instrumental chops and catchy choruses that define their sleek sound. ‘Louise’ is the standout - a heartfelt, rootsy rocker that recalls the Red Hot Chili Peppers from their Californication era. The quiet reflection and beautiful melodies of ‘Stepping Stones’ justifies its selection as first single, and while the uplifting ‘Change’ drifts a little close to pop-rock mediocrity, despite an instantly hummable chorus, the pair quickly get back on track with the soulful lament of ‘Letter to You’.

This well-produced EP weighs heavily on the side of quality over quantity, and while not wholly original, CarterRollins possess the songwriting skills and irresistible hooks to make a significant impact in the future. ~Luke Saunders

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james Vincent McMorrow 3/5

James Vincent McMorrow works the bearded singer-songwriter persona well.

Unfortunately, it’s a persona we’ve seen before. His album Early In The Morning is good, but it’s been done before, and better.

Comparisons to Bon Iver come easily and if McMorrow had presented this material pre-2007, it may have been a revelation. As it is, it feels like he’s following a formula for this album. Songs that stand out are ‘Higher Love’ and ‘If I Had A Boat’ - both strong tunes if viewed on their own. If you can’t get enough of this brand of indie-folk, you’ll love Early In The Morning. If you’re bored easily, I’d pass. ~Jonathan McCallum

Justin Townes Earle

Nothing’s Gonna Change The Way You Feel About Me Bloodshot/Inertia

3/5

Justin Townes Earle just keeps the records coming. Forever pushing himself into new territory, here on Nothing’s Gonna Change The Way You Feel About Me Now, Earle delves into the spirit of Memphis soul, tinged with his weary, country-style, vocal delivery. Recorded over four days completely live, with no over-dubs, Earle’s latest release feels a little hit-and-miss. The tempos feel labored; Earle sounds halfhearted at times and the Memphis session player vibe does his work as a clever lyricist no favours. But there are some beautiful moments. Earle hits his stride on the tracks that are stripped back and doused with his usual sense of alt country melancholy. ‘Won’t Be The Last Time’, ‘Am I That Lonely Tonight’ and the album’s title track all show Earle in fine form and brimming with his trademark sense of heartbreak. ~Roger Thornhill

Band of Skulls Sweet Sour

PIAS/Liberator Music

4/5

British blues/rock trio, Band of Skulls, have been doing their thing (and doing it very well) for some time now, proving there will always be room for good ol’ fashioned rock ‘n’ roll. Sweet Sour is their second studio offering and it has all the raucous riffs you’d hope for plus a few surprises. It’s a breath of fresh air to hear a band with such unpretentious songs, encompassing real emotion and depth.

Band of Skulls differentiate themselves from their indie contemporaries simply by playing good songs well. They are also strikingly original. Comparisons to The Black Keys, 70s riff rock and 90s grunge haven’t stuck around long enough to stain them. From the opening thumper of a title track to the sweet boy-girl harmonies of ‘Lay My Head Down’ and the catchy Beatlesesque melody of ‘Hometowns’, solid songwriting and musical variety make this an interesting and satisfying listen.

Timeless stuff. ~Chelsea Reed

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album Reviews album of the month

The H-Gang

Lana Del Rey

Independent

Interscope/Polydor

3.5/5

3.5/5

The Natural Bridge

The Natural Bridge is the debut EP from a crew of Lismore contemporary music students, known as The H Gang. Considering the background of the band, I immediately expected big things and in most respects, this release delivers. The foot-tappingly tight and groovy rhythm section, combined with warm, soulful vocal lines, best heard in the harmonies of ‘Love – Not This Time’, makes this release a very listenable halfhour. But therein lies the only problem - at times it is a bit too safe. I was expecting at least a few daring, ambitious moments but they are rare. If you want an easy listen to tap your foot to, The Natural Bridge is for you. ~Thomas Peasley

The Maple Trail

Cable Mountain Warning broken stone records

3.5/5

Cable Mount Warning is the third album from The Maple Trail – the solo project of Belle’s Will Ring vocalist and guitarist Aidan Roberts. With all the tranquil beauty and serenity of the Blue Mountains in which Roberts is based, this unique folk album takes the listener on a peaceful journey. The pristine production accentuates the delicate, earthy tones and sparse but varied instrumentation that bookends Roberts’ rich voice. Restrained vocals swell with feelings of isolation and melancholy. The relaxed, upbeat charm and understated drumming on ‘Highwire’, ‘The Dinosaur Hunters’ and ‘The Crash’ prove most effective, although the creeping ballads that make up a large portion of the album are not without their merits, especially the intricate, majestic slow-build of ‘Manuscript’. The songwriting lacks immediacy, favouring a more subtle route to the subconscious. The Maple Trail’s elusive hooks are unlikely to reach a wide audience, but within its contemporary folk niche, Cable Mount Warning is an authentic, low-key gem, devoid of pretension and richly rewarding. ~Luke Saunders

Fanfarlo

Rooms Filled With Light Atlantic/Warner

2.5/5

2009 was a huge year for British indie pop band Fanfarlo, with their debut album Reservoir universally adored and their appearance on the Twilight soundtrack sending their name skyrocketing. But unfortunately Rooms Filled With Light has all the hallmarks of a band cracking under second-album pressure - overall less spark and lacking in Reservoir‘s exciting and contagious energy. Fanfarlo have veered from their previous pop structures towards a more folk/rock-influenced, slightly experimental sound. The track ‘Tightrope’ retains traces of Fanfarlo’s beautiful warm, acoustic nature. But on the whole Rooms Filled With Light is a whole lot dimmer than expected. For Fans Of: Arcade Fire, Beirut, Grizzly Bear. ~Josh Clements

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Born To Die

Criticised for lacking sophistication and originality, Lana Del Rey, aka Lizzy Grant, has released her second album Born To Die - debuting at number one in seven countries, including Australia. Hit songs, ‘Born to Die’ and ‘Video Games’ are dramatic but oversimple and lacking on the lyric front, undermining Del Rey’s artistic vision.

Regardless, Del Rey provides a breath of fresh air and a voice that doesn’t apologise.

The character Grant has created is entirely convincing, whether you like her or not. ~Emily Comes-Browne

Children Collide Monument Universal

4/5

Mystic and hypnotising rockers Children Collide return after two years, with their third studio album, Monument. Monumental indeed – with every song recalling their past sound while simultaneously trifling with futuristic tones. The album’s first single, ‘Sword to a Gunfight’, is like running away to the circus – at times morbid, calming and crazy. ‘Cherries’ has s sick bass line, prominent in many Children Collide songs. John Mackay wails - “I’m on your side, I’m on your side, until you go and change your mind”, and the tune ends suddenly, slowing into ‘Black Lemon’, which brings ‘Loveless’ from Theory of Everything to mind. All the songs on this album feature beautiful choruses dreamy with distorted guitar, conjuring a raw and sparky sound. ‘Prussian Blue’ is the catchiest of them all, with kaleidoscopic beats and a pulsating rhythm right to the end - Mackay’s voice reaching notes unheard in the first half of the album. This new material will be a wonderful addition to Children Collide’s exceptional live sets. ~Jamie Nelson

ThE Mars Volta Noctourniquet Warner

3.5/5

‘Restrained’ may not be the right word for a Mars Volta offering, but their sixth album Noctourniquet is so subdued it makes previous outing Octahedron sound like a red herring.

Rather than navigating blistering guitar and frenetic rhythm work, the challenge this time is wrapping your mind around the album’s textures and layers. There’s an increased focus on synth work and production which, together with Cedric’s phenomenal vocal melodies, drive some of the best material on this album, from the sublime and segmented ‘In Absentia’ to the unpredictably conventional ‘Zed and Two Naughts’. Their trademarks are intact, however – there is no deficit of proggy bombast or wild left-turn songwriting over the album’s impressive 65-minute span.

While not their most rewarding release (and in places bloated), Noctourniquet is another welcome experiment from a band who have kept our attention by doing just that: experimenting. ~Michael Sykes

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Bruce Springsteen and the E Street band Wrecking Ball Sony

5/5

Bruce is back. Back in the leather jacket and backwards baseball cap and back with the E Street Sound he pioneered so long ago. To paraphrase the Dixie Chicks, he’s mad as hell… angry, aggressive, impassioned. It’s been nearly 30 years since Springsteen’s last opus (If I have to tell you that was Born In The USA you should hang your head), and nearly 40 since his first (my favourite Springsteen record, Born to Run). While The Boss has had his moments since then, none have stood up to classic Bruce with all its bells and whistles. Until now.

At its best, Wrecking Ball is a fiery condemnation of the mismanagement of the American economy, taking aim at stockbroking ‘fat cats’ and jingoistic nationalists.

Full, anthemic tracks like ‘We Take Care Of Our Own’ and ‘Land Of Hope And Dreams’ are every bit as good as you’ll hear on a classic Springsteen record, and even when the album dips into the Boss’ ballad pool (‘Jack of All Trades’, ‘This Depression’), the songs are still stronger than on just about any other of his releases this side of The Rising. Powerful, poignant, rock and roll - brilliant. ~Max Quinn

POND

Beard, Wives, Denim Modular

3.5/5

Beard, Wives, Denim is the latest offering from Pond - a band that shares two members with psych-rock heavyweights Tame Impala. Inevitable comparisons between the two bands aside, Pond offers enough of their own twists and individuality to avoid an identity crisis.

Beard, Wives, Denim sees the accomplished trio seamlessly blend funky rock ‘n’ roll, spacey excursions and fuzzedout psychedelic jams. The blissful songs are pleasantly shrouded in vintage tones and an otherwise modern production edge.

Opening tune ‘Fantastic Explosion Of Time’ is an urgent ripper that immediately gets the blood pumping, before they shift back a gear into the hazy jams and ethereal melodies of ‘When it Explodes’. ‘Sun And Sea And You’ connects frantic drumming and splashy cymbal work with thick waves of sound and eerily beautiful vocal melodies. The songs gel together cohesively, despite sometimes drifting a little far off course, and although some of the tunes leave a greater impact than others, there is rarely a dull moment in the free-spirited, occasionally experimental, songwriting. Beard, Wives, Denim is a sparkling rock album that shifts gracefully between rock swagger and sunny euphoria. ~Luke Saunders

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The Dirty Three Toward The Low Sun Inertia

3/5

Toward the Low Sun sees The Dirty Three take a slightly different turn from their earlier albums.

Opening to a wall of noise - sounding like a jam session the band has recorded, and lacking melody and structure, it’s a hard album to like in the first couple of songs.

But if you can get past the rough start, you’ll reach the sweet spot that is The Dirty Three. ‘Moon on the Land’ is the band at its best – beautiful violin, soothing guitar and rhythmic drums. ‘Rising Below’ is another goodie that builds into carefully structured chaos. Toward the Low Sun is a nice album but not one of the band’s best. ~Stephanie McDonald

Gary Clark Jr

The Bright Light EP Warner

4.5/5

Scratchy distorted guitar drives through the opening of title track ‘Bright Lights’; followed by tinny hi-hat taps and a second electric guitar; 30 seconds in, and the heavy soul sound of Clark Jr.’s vocals fire up. Filled with an edgy sexual charge, the accomplished guitarist has managed to capture the rawness of the blues whilst maintaining a fat sound layered with his own psychedelic additions. Clark Jr. swerves from a laid back vibe to fast-paced swing with the second track ‘Don’t Owe You a Thang’ with the energy of a rodeo and tough love lyrics, this song’s got bite. Track three, ‘Things Are Changin’’ veers in a completely new direction with soft guitar picking and swooning qualities, despite more heartbreaking lyrics. Concluding with an eight-minute live masterpiece, ‘When My Train Pulls In’ showcases the versatility and brilliance of a young blues man on the rise. ~Jess Kellar

Hudson Arc

In An Ocean Of Sacrifice Independent

3/5

The classically-trained musicians of Newcastle band Hudson Arc have bypassed traditional rock instruments to rely heavily on violin, viola and cello as a backdrop for frontman Gareth Hudson’s soulful vocals, in their debut album of quirky pop. ‘The Woman Next Door’ illustrates the drama-filled dynamics and pop hooks they are clearly capable of producing. Elsewhere, the experimental edge and jerky rhythms of ‘Crazy About the End’ and lightweight bounce of ‘Happy Happy Joy Joy’ don’t work quite as well, despite strong vocal performances from Hudson. Hudson Arc sound like a band still figuring out their sound and direction.

The songs vary in quality - from commerciallyinclined pop, to soulful balladry and restless experimentation. The band works best when it plays things down, as in the ominous slow-burn of ‘Somewhere, Somehow, Someday’ and the quiet dramatics of ‘1000 Hearts’. The results are mixed but their talent and passion are clearly evident. ~Luke Saunders

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soundwave sideshow Reviews Dashboard Confessional Manning Bar, Sydney Monday, February 27

©Michelle Ho

It has been a long time since Dashboard Confessional visited Australia, so it was no surprise that singer Chris Carrabba was genuinely touched by the warm reception he received at the Manning Bar. For this tour, Carrabba stripped Dashboard back to where it began — himself, an acoustic guitar and a choir of seasoned fans, as evidenced by the enthusiasm and volume with which the crowd joined in ‘The Best Deceptions’, ‘The Good Fight’, ‘Don’t Wait’ and his signature heartbreak anthem, ‘Screaming Infidelities’. Even the newer material — ‘Belle of the Boulevarde’ and ‘Get Me Right’, which most Aussie fans wouldn’t have heard live before, got the crowd going. There’s something special about the way Dashboard Confessional songs always spark a full-blown sing-along, and a humbled Carrabba praised the soldout crowd several times during the night — “you guys sound so good”. A heartfelt and energetic rendition of ‘Hands Down’, a song he faithfully introduced as being about “the best day that I’ve ever had”, brings the house down and ends the solo set. But before long, Carrabba returns to the stage with opening acts Jack’s Mannequin and Relient K in tow, sending fans young and old on their way with the storming and appropriately emotional ‘Vindicated’. ~Michelle Ho

Bush Enmore Theatre, Sydney Monday, February 27

©David jackson

Hailing from LA, kittens-with-claws Cherri Bomb kicked off proceedings with a fiery set. Despite their tender age, these girls are tight performers, easily holding their own amongst the boys. Drummer Nia Lovelis, 36 reve rb

magazin e issue #068 — April 2012

in particular, has the skill and prowess that could see her lauded as one of the best of her generation in years to come. Staind took to the stage next, neatly segueing into some of their best-known songs, ‘Outside’ and ‘It’s Been A While’. For those not familiar with the band’s versatility outside of their radio hits, their set was quite an eye-opener, kicking things off with a metal track and ending with an acoustic ballad.

Still riding the high from their set at Soundwave Festival, it was here, in front of their own crowd, that they turned it up to maximum.

Gavin Rossdale and co. burst onto the stage with ‘Machine Head’ and delivered a solid set, Rossdale exuding confidence and a flirtatious command of his audience. This was taken to extremes when he led security on a chase through the dress circle during ‘The Afterlife’ — climbing over chairs and balconies to caress the faces of female admirers. They kept their finale simple — just Rossdale on guitar, performing signature hit, ‘Glycerine’, before being joined by the band for an explosive final verse; then wrapping things up with a searing rendition of ‘Comedown’. With their new material warmly received, it’s hard to believe Bush spent any time off the radar. ~Kirri Liepins

Slipknot Sydney Entertainment Centre Monday, February 27

Hatebreed Newcastle Panthers Tuesday, February 28

Raised Fist ©Joe Andersons

Hatebreed hit one of the Panthers’ smaller stages with three massive support acts in tow, including Biohazard — a loud, instrumental New York-based hardcore punk band that says ‘fuck’ a lot; Raised Fist — where Swedish metalcore meets hiphop; and Cro-Mags — a New York hardcore/ thrash band that I thoroughly enjoyed, despite being unable to decipher a single word. These three acts got heads banging and fists punching the air and the fans were surprisingly tame by the time Hatebreed hit the stage by 11pm. For a metalcore act, I enjoyed them. They had a lot of energy, and so did the 10 or so roadies standing at the back of the stage watching them perform. Vocalist Jamey Jasta jumped on the barrier, second song in, for some feel-ups, pats on the back and screams in the face from the die-hard fans.

Band members, roadies and tour managers were all cut from the one mould, looking like inked-up triangles (big shoulders, teeny waists and little legs). The crowd didn’t mind waiting up past their bed time for the Soundwave Sideshow and there were only a few aggressive crowd surfers.

But security definitively earned their keep at this gig. ~Mel Roach

System of a Down ©David Youdell

Not since 2008 has the metal mayhem band Slipknot played in Australia and they didn’t hold back at this show. With the band’s logo burning up behind the drum kit, the crowd began to stir as they hit the stage with ‘Iowa’. Drummer Joey Jordison was carried out on percussionist Shawn Crahan’s shoulders, wearing his tree-like hands and a crown of thorns, followed by the rest of the band. Donning their red jumpsuits (a tribute to late bassist Paul Gray) they played the first four tracks of their self-titled album, before mixing it up with their Soundwave set by playing ‘Sulfur’ and ‘Dead Memories’. Slipknot baptised the crowd with ‘Spit It Out’, then dedicated ‘Duality’ to number two — as turntablist Sid Wilson jumped into the crowd. Showing no signs of ageing, the percussionists ran through the crowd, throwing kegs and percussion mallets across the stage. After they played ‘Only One’ as their final song (with four short zesty folkish songs before the final chorus), the adoring crowd cheered for almost five minutes and received a two-song encore, comprised of ‘People = Shit’ and ‘Surfacing’, featuring Jordison’s famous drum solo, with his full kit on an elevated platform, metres above the band, tipping forward and spinning 180°. All in all, Slipknot did not disappoint, providing an exciting, energy-filled and well-executed show. Pure carnage. Amazing. ~Barrington Cocks II

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Sydney Entertainment Centre Tuesday, February 28

©David Youdell

”Djent,” (pause for dramatic buildup and thousands of screaming crazies), “djent, djent… they’re trying to build a prison.”

With that, after a seven-year hiatus, and amidst great anticipation, System returned to Sydney with all of their legendary power and precision. Over the course of two hours, they smashed out nearly 30 songs, treating the audience to almost their entire body of work. Serj Tankian and the team powered through most of their 2001 breakthrough album, Toxicity. Noted for their intricate modal harmonies, Tankian and Daron Malakian’s vocal work soared on classics like ‘Psycho’, ‘Chop Suey’, ‘Needles’, ‘Deer Dance’ and ‘ATWA’.

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Before moving into early territory, like the self-titled opener ‘Suite Pee’, guitarist and songwriter Malakian took centre stage to render work from his masterpiece Mezmorize/Hypnotize. The amazing ‘Lonely Day’ particularly impressed, likewise ‘Revenga’, with singer Tankian dutifully recognising the dual frontman by rocking out on keys from the back, with powerhouse drummer John Dolmayan.

Guitarist from support act Dillinger Escape Plan, Ben Weinman, whose own set was blistering, joined the band for ‘Aerials’, re-inforcing their sonic wall of noise and math reputation, but perhaps suffering from being on the warm-up band soundboard channels. ~Kieran Ferguson

Alter Bridge Enmore Theatre, Sydney Tuesday, February 28

©Kevin Bull

Entering the Enmore Theatre just in time to catch the final three songs of Steel Panther was like stepping back into the 80s. These guys are Motley Crue incarnate — the outfits, the music, the posing — reeking of hair metal glam. Never a fan of the genre at the time (although I must admit to a soft spot for Crue’s Dr Feelgood), 25 years on, I was totally enthralled and so was the packed Enmore.

Alter Bridge’s star has been rising ever since singer Miles Kennedy began his association with guitar god Slash, and rightly so. Kennedy is a superb rock vocalist, fronting a band that delivers great hard rock. Opening with ‘Slip to the Void’, the lead track off their most recent release ABIII, the set list spent most of its time within their 2007 release, Blackbird, with the acoustic ‘Watch Over You’ a highlight amongst the heavy electric onslaught.

Alter Bridge were in fine form, with Brian Marshall’s bass notes hitting the spot — man, you could nearly taste it. Closing with an amazing guitar duel between Kennedy and guitarist Mark Tremonti that led into ‘Rise Today’, Alter Bridge confirmed they have stepped away from their Creed history (apart from Kennedy, the band is Creed). Tonight though, I left with the feeling that Steel Panther may have pipped them at the post. It’s hard to beat a man in spandex. ~Michelle Jenkins

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gig of the month

Aleks and the Ramps

Will and the people

Lenny Kravitz

Chino’s Bar, Newcastle Sunday, March 4

Lizotte’s Lambton Thursday, March 8

Sydney Entertainment Centre Wednesday March 21

©Jim Graham

Bringing their eloquent sounds to Newcastle for the first time, Melbourne’s colourful quintet Aleks and the Ramps entered the stage to a musical intro of what sounded like robotic aerobics. Enthusiastic dancers filled the floor as they kicked off their smooth pop tunes. The guitarist led with low tenor vocals and a porno vibe a la Barry White, which added a unique element. Handclaps and tambourines made it difficult not to move with the music, accentuated by the sound-sensitive lights littered across the stage, while playful synth and sweet female backing vocals added brilliant contrast to the lead.

At times their song structures reminded me of Paul Simon, with ‘In The Snow’ showcasing harmonious melodies and happy bass lines to our delight. The energetic set was non-stop fun and the audience soaked up every last drop of happy juice. Totally eccentric, Aleks and the Ramps have carved themselves a niche on the live circuit. ~Charli Hutchison

©Terry Paull

Opening with a tune about the perils of smoking with its catchy chorus line ‘my teeth are going yellow’, Will Rendle and band delivered a 90-minute set of summery reggae tunes, mixed with pop and heavier rock pieces, with a laid-back vibe. While the first set was slightly repetitive, after the intermission the lads showed they knew how to keep a crowd entertained. An a cappella number and a cover of Pixies’ classic ‘Where is My Mind’ gave a punchier edge to the second-half set, and even prompted some frivolous dancing from the female members of the crowd. Special mention goes out to closing number ‘Lion in the Morning Sun’ — if you can make a crowd of 20 sing the tune from ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ (you know the one — “a-wimo-weh, a-wi-mo-weh”), you know you’ve got them hooked. ~Shelby Houghton

It has been 18 long years since Lenny Kravitz graced our shores, and if his reception tonight was anything to go by, he was sorely missed. At the time of his previous visit, Kravitz was on a roll.

His first three albums established him as a major player on the rock circuit, and his 1993 Australian tour is one fondly remembered by those who caught it.

Opening with ‘Come On Get It’, the lead single off his latest release, Black and White America, the SEC crowd rose to their feet and stayed there for the next 90 minutes. Kravitz was in terrific form, oozing all the primal sexiness he is known for. The set list was a fine mix of old and new, with the biggest responses coming for his classic 90s tracks. ‘Always on the Run’, ‘It Ain’t Over ‘til it’s Over’ and ‘Stand By My Woman’ were true highlights. The set faltered slightly with ‘Rock and Roll is Dead’ (Circus), ‘Rock Star City Life’ (Black and White America) and ‘Where Are We Runnin’’ (Baptism) lacking the swing and swagger of his earlier cuts. But he quickly redeemed himself with ‘Fly Away’ and ‘Are You Gonna Go My Way’ — one of the greatest

©David Youdell

rock songs of the 90s.

Returning for an encore of the title track from his 1989 debut, Let Love Rule, Lenny Kravitz delivered a truly special show. Let’s hope we don’t have to wait another 18 years to see him again. ~Kevin Bull

Adam Ant

The Dirty Three

Enmore Theatre, Sydney Friday, March 23

Star Court Theatre, Lismore Friday, March 23

Children Collide Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle Thursday, March 22

Tonight Alive Level One, Newcastle Leagues Club Saturday, March 10

©Kevin Bull

©Matt McIntyre

©Ashlee Kellehear

Out on the floor was a sea of gleaming eyes and clapping hands, and the chants and screaming had already begun, despite the fact that the stage remained dim.

Backstage, the atmosphere was still and calm as the five young members of Tonight Alive prepared for their set, putting the final touches on their warm-ups and sound checks before their (almost sold-out) charity gig for the Hunter Melanoma Foundation. Opening with ‘Fake It’ before launching into crowd favourites ‘Wasting Away’, ‘To Die For’ and ‘Listening’, it was clear the both band and the diverse crowd enjoyed every moment of the hour-long set.

When their cover of ‘Little Lion Man’ began four songs into the set, the chaos of circle pits and crowd surfing erupted. The boys’ insane stage presence mixed with the powerful vocals of Jenna McDougall caught genuinely captivated first-timers off guard. The future looks undeniably great for these Sydneysiders and it is these intimate shows that both the band and fans will remember many years from now. ~Ashlee Kellehear Find us on Facebook

I know that it’s only March but, what the hell, I’m just going to put it out there. I think Children Collide at the Cambridge will easily make my top five gigs of 2012.

They burst onto the stage with all the raw energy and Brit pop sensibility that I was craving. And my my, aren’t they a great looking bunch of boys! Vanity aside, Children Collide completely blew the punters out of the water. The set started off with some new material and then launched into all their classics. ‘My Eagle’ got the crowd jumping and was closely followed by ‘Farewell Rocket Ship’ which had the packed-out room singing along in one of those spine-chilling moments before overriding vocalist Johnny Mackay and finishing the song in mis-pitched unison.

The only thing I can fault with their set was the constantly present tech guy, clearly doing a good job, but always, well, there. If that’s the worst of it, Children Collide have really outdone themselves. I was surprised at the number of songs I recognised and knew every word to. The Triple J machine has clearly paid off for these boys. If you get the chance to see Children Collide in the near future they will not disappoint. ~Linda Wales

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When we get our first look at Adam Ant, he presents us with his back for half a minute before spinning around to reveal himself in all his costumed glory. And once warmed up, proves he still has a truckload of swagger. ‘Dog Eat Dog’ is an early awkward moment when he knocks over the mic stand. But he seizes the opportunity to play with the crowd, recovers nicely, and soon after eats up ‘Stand and Deliver’. He’s having fun now, reminiscing about the controversial ‘Catholic Day’. During ‘Kings of the Wild Frontier’ his jacket is removed to reveal a T-shirt with an image of a much younger Ant, which he theatrically rips from neck to navel. He’s hitting his stride now and announces ‘Wonderful’ as a song that still moves him. It is then that we get to hear a new song, ‘Vince Taylor’, and I wonder if he has been listening to the Kaiser Chiefs or Kasabian, or have they been listening to him? It would have been predictable to save ‘Ant Music’ and ‘Goody Two Shoes’ for a stage-managed encore. In bringing them out early he raises the energy in the room another notch and sweetly dedicates the former to Ian Molly Meldrum. By the time the encore is over we have been entertained for two hours and the end vocals on ‘Physical’ are amongst the most impressive of the evening.

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©Sam Paquette

The Dirty Three are a powerhouse of noise and atmosphere. As soon as they were on stage, violinist Warren Ellis (violin) had everyone in stitches, before they burst into action — Ellis dancing around like a madman, the amazing Jim White smashing the drums and Mick Turner quietly strumming his guitar. The huge shadows created by the stage lighting contributed to the mesmerising atmosphere and Ellis and White’s chemistry was a beautiful thing to see. Ellis was all over the shop — up, down, in the wings, lying on the floor, karate kicking the cymbals and telling the audience about the time he made psychedelics. At regular intervals he would also let out wallowing screams. ‘Everything Is Fucked’ was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, Ellis proclaiming to the crowd, “This is a song about falling in a hole and just fucking decorating it for 10 years, because it feels… so fucking good.” The Dirty Three are born performers and until you’ve seen them live, you haven’t experienced their outstanding talent at its fullest. ~Cormack O’Connor

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Blue Mtns Folk Fest Review

Elbow

Bombay Bicycle Club

Enmore Theatre, Sydney Monday, March 26

Metro Theatre, Sydney Thursday, March 29

©David jackson

It’s safe to say that with a $90 ticket price, anything less than a stellar show from Elbow would have been a disappointment.

Luckily, nobody went away moping about the holes they burned in their pockets. The band’s two-hour set was hauntingly beautiful from beginning to end, taking in their entire, 20-year career and spitting out all the gems. Singer Guy Garvey is the most unlikely-looking rock icon around, but his voice is second-to-absolutelynobody, and his blue-collar stage banter is charming and clever. In what was the most ‘awww’-inducing moment I’ve witnessed in a very long time, Garvey paused the show to introduce a member of the front row who had followed the band around the country, attending every show from Perth back around to Sydney. Garvey thanked the man by name and dedicated his favourite song to him. The poor guy was so overwhelmed that he cried. It was genuinely touching, and the perfect complement to an inspiring evening of resplendently cinematic rock music. ~Max Quinn

Images ©kevin bull

Live Reviews

©Richard hedger

Bombay Bicycle Club at The Metro last week blew my mind. I When they hit the stage the crowd was thrown into a playful bop, singing along to ‘How Can You Swallow So Much Sleep’. Hands were straight up in the air after that, clapping along throughout the night. Jack Steadman (vocals, guitar) was at times awkward and aloof but when he did engage the crowd, what little he gave had a mesmerising effect. The concert was mostly electrified but there were a few acoustic gems here and there - ‘Ivy & Gold’ being one of the most memorable. The euphoric ‘Always Like This’ had the crowd screaming and dancing. The hugely popular ‘Shuffle’ went off thanks to the frantic finger work of bass player Ed Nash. Having absolutely killed their first headline Australian tour, Bombay Bicycle Club feel like a band about to explode. Catchy melodies, a huge stage presence, outstanding musicianship… watch this space. ~Cormack O’Connor

harry manx

pierRe bensusan

G3 Newcastle Panthers Thursday, March 29

Evanescence Newcastle Entertainment Centre Wednesday, March 28

blue king Brown

©Kevin Bull

©Ashlee Kellehear

From the moment the lights dropped on the half empty general admission floor, frontwoman Amy Lee could not be stopped - she was a bundle of energy with a voice that soared to the upper reaches of the arena. ‘Going Under’ was dropped early and was welcomed with open arms. The focus on stage was solely on Lee (there were guitarists somewhere there in the shadows), and the addition of a grand piano under a single spotlight only highlighted this fact. Lee’s voice was majestic when she only had the piano to contend with, but did bring the night’s only misstep. ‘Swimming Home’ was all about her voice but without the force of the band to bring it home, fell flat. The band redeemed themselves quickly with the heavy crunch of ‘Call Me When You’re Sober’ and the main set closer ‘Bring Me To Life’. Returning for an encore at the piano, the night closed with the crowd in full voice, singing along to ‘My Immortal’. ~Kevin Bull

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magazin e issue #068 — April 2012

A man with his fretboard in every musician’s pie, Steve Lukather, kicked things off. He was the dark horse of this G3, but his remarkable jazzy brilliance shone brightly. His steamy and stirring version of Herbie Hancock’s ‘Butterfly’ got my vote for best song of the night.

Steve Vai then came out on stage with more crotch-stuffing than Tutankhamun.

He went on to play a blitzing set, divebombing, squeals and lots of interesting guitar man-handling I’d never seen before.

Last but not least, Satch’s amazing set leaned more towards classic rock than a sexy, swinging jazz feel... his band turned it up as they hit the home stretch with ‘Ice 9’, ‘Flying in a Blue Dream’and ‘Surfing with the Alien’ and called for a standing ovation.

The traditional G3 encore, Zappa’s ‘My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama’ and Hendrix’s ‘Little Wing’, strapped with stratospheric solos as all three guitarists came together on stage was amazing. I couldn’t have been the only one hoping they would honour Toto and bless the rains down in Africa. Food for thought for your Bluesfest encore, boys. ~Matt Petherbridge

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Blue Mountains Folk Festival Katoomba, Blue Mountains March 16-18

If there’s one thing the Folk Festival in the Blue Mountains is guaranteed to deliver, it’s the chance to discover new artists amid a fine mountain mist. Arriving Friday evening to a fish curry and a welcoming home, I unpacked, loaded the cameras with memory cards, and began the adventure.

An early lunch time set by Cass Eager was the perfect way to dry off the rain in my hair. Engaging and charismatic, Eager is making her mark on the live circuit through hard work and constant touring - a wonderful set to start the day. The surprise came from George Kamikawa and Noriko Tadano, a Japanese pair comprising blues guitar and Tsugaru Shamisen (Japanese banjo). Somehow the combination worked perfectly, and it was one of the funniest sets I have seen in a long time.

Harry Manx held those in attendance in

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George Kamikawa & Noriko Tadano

the palm of his hand with his sombre and heartfelt tales. He is a true talent and a giant in the genre, as highlighted by the rousing applause he received following each song.

French-Algerian guitarist Pierre Bensusan was also a revelation. His fluent technique was quite awe-inspiring and after only a couple of songs, he had won himself a new fan.

Blue King Brown was the first highlight of the weekend. Totally infectious and full of energy, Natalie Pa’apa’a and company were on fire and had the RSL Pavillion Stage alive and warmed up until late in the evening. Chris Wilson was once again the champion of the Folk Festival. He has closed many of the past events, and no wonder. This guy is the real deal, always delivering a raucous set of traditional blues - the perfect way to send the punters home. ~Kevin Bull

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Images ©Richard Hedger

future festival Review

friendly fires

Azari & III

new order

FatBoy Slim

the rapture

tinie tempah

Future Music Festival Royal Randwick Racecourse, Sydney Saturday, March 10

After a week of bad weather leading up to the event, the rain and clouds cleared and made way for one hell of a day for Future Music Festival in Sydney. The sun shone down on almost 45,000 revellers who packed into Randwick Racecourse to take in some of the best dance and electronic acts on the planet. Last year’s inclusion of Ke$ha on the bill raised a few eyebrows and 2012 wasn’t without its wildcard act. Jessie J seemed to confuse many with her presence but put in an entertaining performance on the Las Venus stage for those there early enough to see it. While over on the neighbouring Flamingo stage, more early attendees took in the grimy-goodness of Professor Green.

As the day rolled on, many who’d just experienced the massive dubstep sounds of Chase & Status found relief in

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indie-rockers The Naked And Famous. Frontwoman Alisa Xayalith was pitch-perfect as she performed ‘All of This’ and the crowd sang along enthusiastically until a good portion bailed in time to catch the most talked about act in dance music on the main stage. Whether you think he invented dubstep or ruined it, judging by the 30,000-strong crowd that watched Skrillex, he was the act most were at Future to see.

Despite the patchy sound quality, he put on an exciting show.

Confetti cannon, smoke machines, amazing graphics and a flaming Skrillex logo accompanied a set featuring ‘Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites’, ‘Bangarang’, ‘Cinema’, and a remix of Nero’s ‘Promises’.

Another big act was DJ extraordinaire, Fatboy Slim.

Disturbing and entertaining, Cook performed part of his set

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wearing a mask of his own face while censored nude images and Cook’s animated head flashed across the screens. The set may have left those who came to hear all his 90s big beat hits, disappointed. But Cook’s masterful mixing thrilled the rest. After dark, Swedish House Mafia was a popular choice with young revellers and pleased the crowd with their lengthy set, laser light show and pyrotechnics on the main stage.

Meanwhile, those with more mature tastes took in the event headliners — 80s New Wave legends New Order, playing songs spanning their 30-year career. As the last acts finished and the cleaners moved in, dirty, sweaty patrons spilled on to the streets to wait way too long for buses back to Central.

One thing’s for sure, Future 2012 will be remembered as one of the best yet. ~Emily Cones-Browne

FILM Berlin

Film Reviews

Ich Liebe Berlinale T he 6 2 nd a n nua l Berlin Inter nat ionale Filmfestspiele, held Febr ua r y 9 -19 t h is yea r, played host to sta rs such as Dia ne K r uger, Ch r istia n Ba le a nd Mer yl Streep, as wel l as f ilm-m a kers Mike Leigh , Hou Hsa io Hsien a nd a r tist Ma r ina Abra mov ić . T he fol low ing f ilm s a re just a sa mple of what was on of fer.

Dollhouse An interesting premise (a group of teens arrive at an expensive house with the intention of destroying it) is ruined by woeful performances and uneven plotting.

August Rush director Kirsten Sheridan should know better.

The Flowers of War Set during the second Sino-Japanese War, the film centres on a convent for Catholic schoolgirls threatened by Japanese forces. The film suffers from weak characterisation, sparing backstory and clunky dialogue. Director Zhang Yimou of Hero fame still manages to expertly combine melodrama and shocking violence with beautiful cinematography despite the film’s flaws.

Cherry It’s a pity that heavyhanded direction and weak performances overshadow first-time director Stephen Elliot’s attempt to portray the sex work industry in a more positive light. James Franco plays an irrelevant lawyer, but a solid performance from Slumdog Millionaire’s Dev Patel is one of the film’s few strengths.

For Ellen So Yong Kim’s portrayal of an absentee father’s last chance to reconnect with his daughter is as hilarious as it is heartbreaking — a testament to Kim’s skill with the material. Reportedly staying in character throughout filming, Paul Dano is superb as the father and newcomer Shaylena Mandigo is perfect as the daughter. Jon Heder also shines in a more serious role.

L’Age Atomique A surreal film by Héléna Klotz about two teenagers looking for love in Paris. The film feels like a dream from which you wake up just as events are at their most surreal. The unknown cast is great and the soundtrack perfectly complements the film’s ethereal tone.

Captive Brillante Mendoza directs a harrowing film based on the true story of a group of holidaymakers kidnapped by terrorists in 2001 and forced to work with their captors to survive treacherous terrain. Expert cinematography and a fine ensemble cast, pulled together by Isabelle Huppert, give the film a raw immediacy.

~Sallie Pritchard

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magazin e issue #068 — April 2012

The Hungry Teen Market The Hunger Games is the latest bestselling book adaptation aimed at the teen market, and one of this year’s most anticipated films.

Does it live up to the hype? Well, it’s not perfect but it is far superior to the Twilight series and much more exciting. The Hunger Games is set in a future in which America is split into several districts, ruled by the Capitol.

Each year as punishment for a previous uprising against the Capitol, one boy and one girl are selected randomly from each district to compete in a bloody game of survival, where the only rule is to kill or be killed.

Early in the movie Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) travels to the annual lottery for District 12 with her younger sister Primrose, whose name is pulled from the barrel. On hearing this, Katniss becomes distraught and in an act of courage volunteers to compete instead. Peeta Mallark (Josh Hutcherson) is the male selected

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3.5/5 from the same district and the pair travels together to the Capitol where they meet their drunkard mentor in the form of Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson). They undergo an intensive training period where their odds of survival are judged and broadcast to the audience. Soon after that, they are dumped in the middle of a forest with a stockpile of weapons and the games begin.

The biggest problem with The Hunger Games is that they have obviously gone after the PG rating to cater for the teen market (although it carries an M-rating here). From

what I understand, the books have contestants facing extreme levels of starvation and exhaustion as well as far more gruesome injuries. Here, the contestants maintain their healthy complexions even after days in the forest fending for themselves and the killings are very quick with barely any gore.

But the thing that raises The Hunger Games well beyond a mediocre affair is the performance of Jennifer Lawrence. She is utterly convincing as the movie’s heroine and has a commanding screen presence. The suspense is solid throughout. But when the action unfolds, the shaky camera technique is annoying and robs crucial scenes of intensity.

Overall, The Hunger Games is one of the better adaptations of a literature series to the screen. Despite its flaws, this debut delivers an entertaining ride. If they iron out the shortcomings then the next two instalments will definitely be something to watch.

Home is Where I Want to Be This is Italian director Paolo Sorrentino’s first foray into English-speaking film and it an oddball gem, harking back to a golden era of indie cinema where Jim Jarmusch and Hal Hartley were at the top of their game. Sean Penn plays Cheyenne, a washed up rock star who still dresses the part even though his career ended years before. He looks like a cross between Robert Smith and Edward Scissorhands, with a severely depressed demeanour and a mumbling vocal delivery that wavers like a teenager with a breaking voice. But his career obviously paid well, living as he does in a mansion in Dublin, married to the animated and enthusiastic Jane (Frances McDormand).

Cheyenne gets news that his father has died in New York and decides to travel there for the funeral, despite having not spoken to his father in 30 years. In New York he reads his father’s journals, which

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4/5

document his hunt for the Nazi war criminal who tormented him during the Holocaust and who he believed was living in the US. Cheyenne decides to prolong his stay to complete his father’s mission, taking a road trip through the mid-west.

Along the way, he meets a series of intriguing characters, none of whom seem fazed by his alien looks, who help him on his path to self-discovery.

The film’s title is taken from the Talking Heads song of the same name, and the soundtrack is by the suitably quirky David

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Byrne, alongside Billie ‘Prince’ Bonnie. The song is played several times throughout the movie by various artists and there is also a live concert version with Byrne himself performing. On the acting front, Penn is amazing here. It is like nothing he has ever done before and once you get past his speech impediment it’s amazing how much feeling he conveys with just his eyes.

He is also backed by a solid supporting cast, most notably from McDormand and also Judd Hirsch playing the Nazi hunter that helps him along the way. The direction and screenplay by Sorrentino is pitch perfect. There is a wonderful flow to the movie and the cinematography by Luca Bigazzi adds to its charm, capturing the beauty of America’s vast midlands. This is a wonderfully eccentric film that is likely to divide audiences. But if you love left-offield indie drama, This Must Be The Place is a real treat.

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DVD Reviews

DVD Marathon The Life Cinematic

Watch the Birdie A couple move to the country to raise a family and are faced with daily struggles that complicate their desire for another child. They risk being shot, poisoned or run over by a car while providing food for their household, and even if they are successful in conceiving a child, their baby will have only a 10 per cent chance of survival. This isn’t the story of a human couple. This is the story of the Carnaby’s Black Cockatoo, native to a small pocket of south-western Australia. Their numbers in the wild have plummeted to less than 40,000 due to suburban sprawl, regular deaths by shooting from orchardists and the high-risk nature of their breeding ground. On a Wing and a Prayer depicts their struggle for survival through two birds and the humans helping them on their journey.

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3.5/5

Whenever a species is endangered, the question is asked — how do you get people to care about what happens to them? The answer may lie in thinking of an audience not as potential contributors to the preservation campaign, but to appeal to them as consumers of media – a television audience looking for engaging drama. On a Wing and a Prayer is, in part, a family drama — Carnaby’s Cockatoos are birds that mate for life and the focus on a

couple struggling to raise a baby is a struggle many humans face. But it’s also a crime drama — investigating the orchardists shooting them, and a medical drama — caring for cockatoos that have been poisoned by crops, not to mention a documentary about the wildlife workers who meticulously gather research to save them. A home renovation element also comes into play as the female cockatoos search for a good hollow in which to raise their babies.

This feature is not without requisite sweeping aerial shots of Carnaby’s cockatoos in flight; a bird’s eye view of the babies’ development (no pun intended); as well as suitably grave narration from William McInnes. But it’s the use of classical narrative that is most effective in giving these birds a voice.

While narrative cinema now dominates, the documentary is arguably the world’s first film genre.

Cinema’s primary concern with presenting the natural world has evolved into a sub-genre known as the nature documentary. A desire or curiosity to see what is normally unseen by humans forms part of its appeal, and developments in technology that allow us to see more than ever before are vital to its success. The following influential films and television series have been integral to the continuing popularity of nature documentaries.

La Mer (Auguste and Louis Lumière, 1895): In this 47-second film, a group of people jump into a lake and swim ashore. It’s the water itself that takes prominence here — its vastness captured on-screen with the developing technology.

If you can’t watch a documentary this short, try: 20,000 Lieues sous les Mers (Georges Méliès, 1907)

Look (BBC, 1955): Presented by conservationist Sir Peter Scott, Look was a magazine program about natural history that ran on BBC television for 25 years until 1981. It is arguably the first nature program made for television.

If you’re a fan of parodies of magazine programming, try: Look Around You (Robert Popper and Peter Serafinowicz, 2005)

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If you’d prefer to see deep sea divers filming

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their quest for vengeance, then watch: The Life

3/5

Beneath the Surface This three-part series is a detailed insight into the world’s largest living structure and arguably Australia’s most beautiful landmark – The Great Barrier Reef.

Episode One is a history of the reef’s composition and an introduction to the creatures inhabiting its ocean depths.

Episode Two explores the various habitats that make up the outer reef and Episode Three examines the animals and creatures that depend on the reef both here and overseas, as well as its global impact.

Presented by British diver and explorer Monty Halls, who clearly loves the reef, the series is imbued with his enthusiasm.

Halls’ utter delight in introducing the amazing creatures that inhabit this world

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is charming and infectious. What doesn’t work quite as well is the structure and presentation. While the information presented is in itself quite interesting, the application of the television documentary format here makes for quite uninteresting viewing at times. It has the requisite grand, orchestral soundtrack; sweeping aerial shots; as well as those following small creatures inevitably being eaten by larger predators; and simply too much time-lapse photography.

There are some standout sequences, however, like that of the reef at night.

Watching a snail kill a fish, and a shark annihilating a turtle carcass, are not images easily forgotten. It’s also nice to know there’s a bird that can kill a

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Le Monde du Silence (Jacques Cousteau with Louis Malle, 1956): Along with co-inventing the Aqua Lung, Cousteau would also pioneer new techniques in filming underwater.

The Silent World was one of the first documentaries to film underwater in colour. This fascination with the vibrant world of the ocean depths continues today, as seen in this month’s release of The Great Barrier Reef.

crocodile — even if it is only a baby crocodile. Also breathtaking are the corals themselves — their breeding makes for fascinating viewing and this is when the series is at its most effective.

Being a BBC series, it provides a very British perspective on the reef. This may be why Monty Halls’s narration was substituted with that of Karl Stefanovic for Channel Nine’s broadcast of the series.

Whether that was a good decision or not is for the viewer to decide. Overall, there is still plenty to learn from this documentary series, especially for Australians who, like me, might find its location difficult to pinpoint on a map, when asked to do so by some Norwegian friends.

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Aquatic with Steve Zissou (Wes Anderson, 2004)

The Life of Birds (David Attenborough, 1998): David Attenborough is without doubt one of the fathers of the nature program. The third in his Life series, it contains the unmistakable Attenborough style first seen in Life on Earth, in 1979. It features a precise, highly descriptive narration and the use of pioneering filming techniques. It’s proof that Attenborough continues to set the tone and standard for all nature documentary filmmakers.

If you’re distrustful of birds, have your suspicions confirmed by: The Birds (Alfred Hitchcock, 1963)

March of the Penguins (Luc Jacquet, 2005): March of the Penguins wrote the book on applying human drama to the charting of penguin reproduction, making this film a global success. And the narration by Morgan Freeman helped as well.

If you’d rather penguins danced and sang, see: Happy Feet (George Miller, 2006)

~Sallie Pritchard

reverb magazin e issue #068 — April 2012 41

NEWCASTLE Don’t forget — Live & Local every Wednesday night

gig Guide Newcastle Sun, April 1

Sat, April 7

Lizotte’s, Lambton

Catherine Hill Bay Hotel

Big Top Luna Park, Sydney

Side Bar, Cambridge Hotel, Newc

Steve Edmonds Band

Grand Junction Hotel, Mait

Rick Price

4 Apr

Steve Earle USA (Bluesfest sideshow)

12 Apr

Vika and Linda Bull

14 Apr

Chain

20 Apr

Daryl Braithwaite

3 May

Hat Fitz and Cara Robinson

7-8 May Jimmy Barnes & friends 9 May

Bic Runga

Rick Price, Tamara Stewart

Toukley Golf Club Moondog Gypsy Blues

Wickham Park Hotel, Islington Montezuma, Dave & The Demons

Tues, April 3 Enmore Theatre, Sydney My Morning Jacket, Dawes

Lizotte’s, Lambton Keb Mo, James Chatburn

State Theatre, Sydney Lucinda Williams

Hordern Pavilion, Sydney Crosby, Stills and Nash

Jack’s Bar, Erina

The Music of Bob Dylan

Lamexcuse, Run Squirrel, Tired Minds

Lizotte’s, Kincumber Kristy James, Tim Sheumack, Trent Crawford, Tim Orgias

Lizotte’s, Lambton

Gee Wizz, Blush Nightclub, Gosf Dead To Me, Cobra Skulls, Dangerous!

Grand Junction Hotel, Maitl G. Numan Project

Great Northern Hotel, Newc The Fumes, The Bloody Kids, Ngariki

King Street Hotel, Newcastle

Brian Setzer’s Rockabilly Riot

Northern Star Hotel, Hamilton Nick Raschke

Oxford Art Factory, Sydney Blitzen Trapper

For bookings and

Rhythm Hut, Gosford Caravana Sun

information,

Stag & Hunter Hotel, Mayfield

phone (02) 4956 2066

Wickham Park Hotel, Islington

or visit lizottes.com.au

Mick n Josh

The Kill Room, Goodnight Tiger,

Side Bar, Cambridge Hotel, Newc

DJ Dan Random, DJ Shalyn Gray,

Emma Russack, Rohin Jones,

DJ Kudos, DJ Skarlett Saramore,

Jessica Says

Jen Buxton, Hollographic Cocoon,

Stag & Hunter Hotel, Mayfield

Hey Lady, Easy Tiger, De’May, Donna and Riley, Kristoph,

Flying Mare

UNSW Roundhouse, Sydney

Andrew Richmond, Jen Bradley

Great Northern Hotel, Newc Mr Kite, The Incredible Kicks, Mistaken Toneshifterz, Steve Hill, Technikal

Voodoo Express

Steve Edmonds Band

Lass O’Gowrie Hotel, Wickham

Eye On You

Infinite Decibals, Briinkworth Ghost,

Lizotte’s, Kincumber Jon English, Jonahs Road

Making

Level One, Newc Leagues Club

Metro Theatre, Sydney Ziggy Marley

Tumbleweed, Cabins, The Treatment

Lizotte’s, Kincumber

Leigh Barker and The New Sheiks

Vika and Linda Bull, Nicki Gillis

Lizotte’s, Lambton

Newcastle Panthers

The Pigs, The Beez

Loft Youth Centre, Newcastle Ghosts on Broadway, The Cavelcade, We Built Atlantis, Above Fallen,

Ben Salter Annie O’Dee Hotshots, Angie

Dirty Youth

Side Bar, Cambridge Hotel, Newc N’FA Jones, Tom Showtime

Mon, April 9

Stag & Hunter Hotel, Mayfield

Oasis Youth Centre, Wyong

State Theatre, Sydney

Sundays Record

Deez Nuts, Phantoms, The Bride, The Take Hold, Last Chance

Wed, April 11 Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle Greenthief, Mars Landing

Yes

Wickham Park Hotel, Islington Milestones

Sat, April 14 Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle The Cavalcade, The Virture, We Built Atlantis, Alice vs Everything

The Pogues, The Barons of Tang

Lass O’Gowrie Hotel, Wickham

Gallipoli Legion Club, Hamilton

The Hedonists, Daniel March, Glenn

Truckstop Honeymoon,

Farley

Swiss Army Wives

Lizotte’s, Kincumber

Grand Junction Hotel, Maitl

Truckstop Honeymoon, Salt, Glenys Rae Trio

His Merry Men

Great Northern Hotel, Newc

Lizotte’s, Lambton

Potbelleez

The Black Sorrows

Bob Corbett and the Roo Grass Band

Gateway Hotel, Islington

Hordern Pavilion, Sydney

Pedro

Newcastle Panthers

27 May

Jon English, Jonahs Road

Seven Seas Hotel, Carrington

Wickham Park Hotel, Islington

Fannys Nightclub, Newcastle

The Brewster Brothers -

Gallipoli Legion Club, Hamilton

Side Bar, Cambridge Hotel, Newc

Thur, April 5

26 May

The Preachers, Steve Smyth

Kato

Lizotte’s, Lambton

Zappa plays Zappa

Steve Earle, Kristy Akers

Tex Perkins (solo)

Kira Puru and the Bruise, Boatfriends,

Newc Jazz Club, Adamstown

Nothing Is Sacred

Dead To Me, Cobra Skulls,

24 May

Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle

King Street Hotel, Newcastle

Hamilton Station Hotel, Isling

Sativa Sun, The Tillegra Damned

Amos Wellings

22-23 May Diesel & Matt Andersen

Astrosphere

The McClymonts

Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle

Level One, Newc Leagues Club

17-18 May Harry Manx

Belmont 16 foot Sailing Club

Swallow Your Pride, Foreign Body,

Lakes Hotel, The Entrance

DecembeR

A Date with Effie

Fri, April 13

Grand Junction Hotel, Maitl

Lass O’Gowrie Hotel, Wickham

Mother’s Day Lunch —

Overload

Wed, April 4

Judge Our Hearts, Lycanthrope,

13 May

Wickham Park Hotel, Islington

King Street Hotel, Newcastle

Hamilton Station Hotel, Isling

and his Band

Underlights

Sun, April 8

Merewether Fats Blues Jam

Liam Burrows

The Specials

Sublime with Rome, Mat McHugh

Great Northern Hotel, Newc

12 May

Invali, Sunset Exodus, DJ Head Noize

Great Northern Hotel, Newc

Alabama 3

Lizotte’s, Lambton

John Fogerty

The Ruby Revue

The Maine, This Time Next Year

Enmore Theatre, Sydney

Nerds and Music

Lizotte’s, Kincumber

Sydney Entertainment Centre

11 May

New Found Glory, Taking Back Sunday,

Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle

Southerly Change

Lass O’Gowrie Hotel, Wickham

1 Apr

Vika and Linda Bull, Nicki Gillis

OMG!

Transvaal Diamond Syndicate, Guthrie, The Quixotics

Kristy James, Zach & Gaby, Grand Master Monk, Hey Sanchez

Hamilton Station Hotel, Isling

Loft Youth Centre, Newcastle

NJE, Nhostic, Prophetics, Untaymable,

Twisted Affection, Alice vs Everything,

Poetic Transition, Beat Theory,

Why Say Chelsea, Anything For Now

One Mike, NCL, DJ Riley JM

Thur, April 12 Cessnock Supporters Club

Lass O’Gowrie Hotel, Wickham Mar Haze, Dan Southward, Anthony from the Trobes

Lizotte’s, Lambton

The McClymonts

Kamakazi Kowboys

Civic Theatre, Newcastle

Seven Seas Hotel, Carrington

John Butler, Mama Kin

Grand Junction Hotel, Maitl

Fri, April 6

Chain Ben Crawford Project

Side Bar, Cambridge Hotel, Newc

Set Sail

Celadore

Great Northern Hotel, Newc

Great Northern Hotel, Newc Caravana Sun, Pete Sot

Hi-Fi, Sydney

Stag & Hunter Hotel, Mayfield

Zoe K and the Shadow Katz, Frankie Wants Out

Loose Bazooka

Tempus Two Winery, Hunter

Hamilton Station Hotel, Isling

Dead Meadow, Pink Mountaintops, The Laurels, Los Sundowners

Tony Bennett

Wickham Park Hotel, Islington

Little King

Lizotte’s, Kincumber Annabelle Kay

42 reverb

mag azi ne issue #068 — April 2012

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One World, Plastic Voyage

Sun, April 15 Grand Junction Hotel, Maitl Truckstop Honeymoon

Lizotte’s, Kincumber Chain

Lizotte’s, Lambton Paul Greene

Queens Wharf Brewery, Newc Steve Edmonds Band

San Remo GOATS Festival

Wickham Park Hotel, Islington Ghost Road, Mark Wells

Tues, April 17 Lizotte’s, Kincumber Jon Gomm, Andy Sorenson

Wed, April 18 Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle The City Shake Up, Shoreline, Anything For Now

Great Northern Hotel, Newc The Beards

Hamilton Station Hotel, Isling In Element, Engage The Fall

Hordern Pavilion, Sydney Cold Chisel

Lizotte’s, Kincumber Damien Molley, Alex Gibson, Climax Igloo, Sound

Thur, April 19 Cessnock Arts Centre John Williamson

Grand Junction Hotel, Maitl Toot, Toot, Toots

Hamilton Station Hotel, Isling Leadbellies

Lizotte’s, Kincumber Daryl Braithwaite, Nick & Leisl

Lizotte’s, Lambton Mick Thomas, Shelley Short

Newcastle Panthers August Burns Red, BlessTheFall, Northlane

Sydney Entertainment Centre Seal

Wickham Park Hotel, Islington Hatty Fatners, Bones, Beth & Ben, Jones & Skeletones

Fri, April 20 Civic Theatre, Newcastle Kitty Flanagan

Club Singleton Adam Harvey, Amber Laurence

Enmore Theatre, Sydney Jay & Silent Bob Get Old

Entrance Leagues Club Frenzal Rhomb

Grand Junction Hotel, Maitl Method

Great Northern Hotel, Newc The Feelers, Gasoline Inc.

Hi-Fi, Sydney Mark Lanegan Band, Howl at the Moon

King Street Hotel, Newcastle Alison Wonderland

Lizotte’s, Kincumber Mick Thomas, Shelley Short

Lizotte’s, Lambton Daryl Braithwaite, Sarah Humphreys

Loft Youth Centre, Newcastle The Virture

Northern Star Hotel, Hamilton Nick Raschke

Side Bar, Cambridge Hotel, Newc Rufus, Polographia

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gig Guide Newcastle (cont.) gig Guide North Stag & Hunter Hotel, Mayfield Lady K and the Good Times

Wests Leagues Club, Lambton John Williamson

Wickham Park Hotel, Islington Lachy Doley

Sat, April 21 Catherine Hill Bay Hotel Method

East Maitland Bowling Club Breaking Orbit, Substation X, Firefish

Great Northern Hotel, Newc The Toot, Toot, Toots, Mother and Son

King Street Hotel, Newcastle Vandalism

Laycock Theatre, Gosford Kitty Flanagan

Loft Youth Centre, Newcastle Xibalba, Warbrain, The Hollow, Taken By Force, Blind Sight

Newcastle Panthers Adam Harvey, Amber Laurence

Royal Exchange Hotel, Newc The Little Stevies

Seven Seas Hotel, Carrington Boulder Dash

Stag & Hunter Hotel, Mayfield Ninemile

Toronto Workers Club Wendy Matthews, Glenn Shorrock

Wickham Park Hotel, Islington Glenny Rae’s Eucalypso, Good Corn Liquor, Kirsty Larkin

Sun, April 22 Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle

Thur, April 26

Sun, April 1

Brunswick Heads Hotel

Gee Wizz, Blush Nightclub, Gosf

Beach Hotel, Byron Bay

Harrington Hotel

Pigeon

Grand Junction Hotel, Maitl Genevieve Chadwick

Hamilton Station Hotel, Isling Bits & Pieces

Lizotte’s, Lambton Jon Gomm, Andy Sorenson

Belford, Hunter Valley Gum Ball Festival w/ The Bakery, The Tongue, Front End Loader, The Joe Kings, Massy Ferguson, Two Rivers Blue

Great Northern Hotel, Newc Bad Party

Lizotte’s, Kincumber Afro Moses

Lizotte’s, Lambton Aya Larkin, Emily Barker

Loft Youth Centre, Newcastle Geography of Mars

Maitland Leagues Club The Cavalcade, The Virture

Stag & Hunter Hotel, Mayfield Phaze III

Wickham Park Hotel, Islington Milestones

Sat, April 28 Belford, Hunter Valley Gum Ball Festival w/ Jinja Safari, Sietta, Ash Grunwald, Vika & Linda Bull,

The Guppies

Clairy Browne & the Bangin’ Rackettes,

Dig It Up! The Hoodoo Gurus Invitational

Grand Junction Hotel, Maitl The Stillsons

King Street Hotel, Newcastle Timmy Trumpet, Tenzin

Lizotte’s, Kincumber Michael Peter, Bob Corbett

Ocean View Hotel, Dudley Method

Side Bar, Cambridge Hotel, Newc The Broken Loose

Toronto Workers Club John Williamson

Wests Leagues Club, Lambton Wendy Matthews, Glenn Shorrock

Wickham Park Hotel, Islington Steve Edmonds, Dave & the Demons

Mon, April 23 Enmore Theatre, Sydney Jay & Silent Bob Get Old

Mat McHugh, Wagons, Kim Churchill, Fire! Santa Rosa, Fire!, The Delta Rigs, Benjalu, Dashville Progress Society, The Perch Creek Family Jug Band, Roesy, Eucalypso

Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle Stonefield, The Delta Riggs, Kingswood

Great Northern Hotel, Newc Dialectrix, Ellesquire, Rainman, Calski

Lizotte’s, Kincumber Aya Larkin, Emily Barker

Lizotte’s, Lambton Pete Hawkes, Phil Emmanuel

Seven Seas Hotel, Carrington Nick Raschke

Stag & Hunter Hotel, Mayfield Formula

Pete Hawkes, Phil Emmanuel

Fannys Nightclub, Newcastle

Oasis Youth Centre, Wyong

Emily Barker

Timmy Trumpet, Encore, RPM,

Boot Camp w/ Northlane, Dropsaw,

Sam Idol, Kagz, Fuel, Amos Wellings

Shinto Katana, Mark My Words,

Wed, April 25 Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle The Shivering Indies

Great Northern Hotel, Newc Woo Hoo Review

Hamilton Station Hotel, Isling Eye On You

Seven Seas Hotel, Carrington Annie O’Dee & The Hotshots

Wickham Park Hotel, Islington Hank Greens Blues

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Hoey Moey Hotel, Coffs

Relentless, Civil War, Crowned Kings, Hold Your Own

Side Bar, Cambridge Hotel, Newc Jack Carty

Wickham Park Hotel, Islington Floyd Vincent and the Child Brides, Swiss Army Wives

1 Apr

Deya Dova, Budspells, Joelism Sabrina & the Red Vans

Slipway Hotel, Ballina

Jesse Morris & the 3 Beans 5, Julian Temple

Alabama 3 (Bluesfest sideshow)

Sheoak Shack, Fingal Head

8 Apr

Easter Sunday w/ Jon English

Yolan

Tattersalls Hotel, Lismore

Wed, April 4

Aaron Bishop

Valla Beach Tavern Moondog

Coolangatta Hotel

Gypsy Blues Band

Sublime with Rome, Mat McHugh

Hoey Moey Hotel, Coffs Dave Strauss

Lalaland, Byron Bay

Sun, April 8 Beach Hotel, Byron Bay

Rhys Bynon

Ragga Jump

Brewery, Byron Bay

Thur, April 5

Sunday Safari w/ Linda Marigliano, Surecut Kids, Stretch, Rushton,

Australian Hotel, Ballina

Charley, And Oh!, Easy P

13 Apr

Vika and Linda Bull

19 Apr

Daryl Braithwaite

27 Apr

Afro Moses –

Harrington Hotel

Shybaby

Ballina RSL

The Spirit of Bob Marley

Caravana Sun

Hoey Moey Hotel, Coffs

Lisa Hunt

Beach Hotel, Byron Bay

Ben Francis

5 May

Lalaland, Byron Bay

Holland

Brewery, Byron Bay

Liam Burrows and his Band

Rob Pix, Daniel Webber, Discrow

Lennox Point Hotel

Junk Company

Hoey Moey Hotel, Coffs

Guy Turk

Sawtell RSL

Owen Shannon

Lalaland, Byron Bay

Monique Montez, Rowland Stones

Rob Pix, Brett Sellwood

Sphinx Rock Cafe, Mt Burrell

Nimbin Hotel

Sabrina & the Red Vans

Southerly Change

8 May

Bic Runga

12 May

A Date with Effie

Mon, April 9

Port Macquarie Hotel Phil Jamieson, The Havelocks

Sawtell Hotel

Beach Hotel, Byron Bay

Twist Tops

Caravana Sun

Seaview Tavern, Woolgoolga Geoff Turnbull

Brewery, Byron Bay Sabrina & the Red Vans

Slipway Hotel, Ballina

Hoey Moey Hotel, Coffs

Troubadour

Secret Squirrel

Tattersalls Hotel, Lismore Cole Cox Lovejoy

Lalaland, Byron Bay Bag Raiders, Rhys Bynon, Stretch, And Oh!

Fri, April 6

Rails, Byron Bay Blake Noble and the Ninja Stars

Australian Hotel, Ballina Stove Pipe Willy

Beach Hotel, Byron Bay Hayden Hack Infusion, Inside Outlaw

Brunswick Heads Hotel

Wed, April 11

15-16 May Jimmy Barnes & friends 17 May

The Idea of North

Beach Hotel, Byron Bay Kobya, Nicky Bomba

Hoey Moey Hotel, Coffs

Dirty Channel

Federal Hotel, Alstonville

Lizotte’s, Kincumber

Southerly Change

Ocean View Hotel, Urunga

Gung Ho

Hamilton Station Hotel, Isling

Lizotte’s, Lambton

Henry Rollins

Yacht Club DJs, Hunting Grounds,

Cherry St Sports Club, Ballina

Soul Station

Quickfix

Lennox Point Hotel

Sun, April 29

Tues, April 24

Newcastle Panthers

Transvaal Diamond Syndicate, Guthrie

Nimbin Hotel

Don’t forget — Live & Local every Wednesday night

Hoey Moey Hotel, Coffs

Coolangatta Hotel

Funk Party, Phyco Pucko, Deadbeats

Fri, April 27

Caravana Sun

Brewery, Byron Bay

Minnie Marks

Yacht Club DJs, Hunting Grounds,

Enmore Theatre, Sydney

Oka

Wickham Park Hotel, Islington

CENTRAL COAST

Kye Cole

Kane Cahill

Rails, Byron Bay

Tommy Memphis Coastal Soul

The Go Set

19-20 May Harry Manx 25 May

Thur, April 12

Lennox Point Hotel Angry Penguins

Nimbin Hotel

Beach Hotel, Byron Bay

The Incredible Kicks

Joelistics, Diafrix, Rainman

Pacific Hotel, Yamba

Hoey Moey Hotel, Coffs

Neil Anderson

Kit Bray, Wandering Eyes

Slipway Hotel, Ballina

The Brewster Brothers The Music of Bob Dylan

26 May

Variety Club Fundraiser

27 May

Tex Perkins and Friends

Nimbin Hotel

Willie Hona

Lachlan Bryan

Yamba Bowling Club

Pacific Hotel, Yamba

Southerly Change

Mick McHugh

Port Macquarie Hotel

Sat, April 7

Transvaal Diamond Syndicate, Guthrie

Port Macquarie Panthers

Australian Hotel, Ballina

Troy Cassar-Daley, Harmony James

For bookings and information, phone (02) 4368 2017 or visit lizottes.com.au

Rails, Byron Bay

Evil Beaver

Ballina RSL

The Stillsons

Slipway Hotel, Ballina

Phil & Gaz

Beach Hotel, Byron Bay

Scott Davey

Tattersalls Hotel, Lismore

Uncle Jed

Brewery, Byron Bay

Kyle Watson & Friends

Bleeding Knee Club, Dune Rats, Gung Ho

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reverb magazin e issue #068 — April 2012 43

APRIL AT THE AUSSIE WED 4 DEAN’S AMAZING TRIVIA 7 PM THURS 5 SHYBABY 8 PM FRI 6 STOVE PIPE WILLY 6 PM SAT 7 EVIL BEAVER 7:30 PM WED 11 GET YOUR ARSE DOWN TO DEAN’S TRIVIA 7 PM FRI 13 THE I IN ME 8 PM SAT 14 ALI SMITH BAND 7:30 PM WED 18 WELL BLOW ME – IT’S DEAN’S TRIVIA AGAIN 7 PM FRI 20 SABOTAGE 6 PM SAT 21 PIERCE BROS 7:30 PM WED 25 TWO-UP 2 PM WED 25 FUCKING HELL – DEAN’S TRIVIA – GOTTA SEE THAT 7 PM FRI 27 OCKAROCK 8 PM SAT 28 2 IN THE PINK 7:30 PM

gig Guide North (cont.)

Fri, April 13

Lalaland, Byron Bay

Australian Hotel, Ballina

Lennox Point Hotel

The I in Me

Ballina RSL

Pacific Hotel, Yamba

Round Mountain Girls

Bangalow Hotel

DJ Benners

Seaview Tavern, Woolgoolga The Weekenders

Slipway Hotel, Ballina

Lisa Hunt

Beach Hotel, Byron Bay Snakadaktal, Elizabeth Rose, Tourism

Bonny Hills Hotel Monster Boys

Stag

Sawtell RSL

Brewery, Byron Bay Kobya

Slipway Hotel, Ballina Tattersalls Hotel, Lismore Bill Jacobi

Brunswick Heads Hotel Guy & Theirry Alderman Brothers

Club Forster Troy Cassar-Daley, Harmony James

Federal Hotel, Alstonville

Truckstop Honeymoon

Hoey Moey Hotel, Coffs Lalaland, Byron Bay

Ben Salter, Joe McKee, Felicity Groom

Pacific Hotel, Yamba

Dirty Luck, DJ Breno, DJ Stevo

Port Macquarie Hotel The Lyrical Matty Devitt

Seaview Tavern, Woolgoolga The Edge Sky Daddy Mick McHugh Transvaal Diamond Syndicate,

Brewery, Byron Bay Brunswick Heads Hotel

The Feelers, Gasoline

Mescalito Blues

Cherry St Sports Club, Ballina

Chase the Sun, Lachy Doley

Mossy Rocks

Federal Hotel, Alstonville

Daniel Webber, Discrow

Pacific Hotel, Yamba

The Stillsons

Great Northern Hotel, Byron

Garrett Katto

Pond, The Laurels

Hoey Moey Hotel, Coffs

Tommy Memphis, Rowland Stones

Sheoak Shack, Fingal Head

Empire

Lennox Point Hotel

Southerly Change

Valley Floor, The Deadbeats

Nimbin Bush Theatre Nick Penn goes the Full Mandy

No. 5, Bellingen

Beach Hotel, Byron Bay

Bill Chambers, Sara Tindley

Pacific Hotel, Yamba

Great Northern Hotel, Byron

Tommee

Plantation Hotel, Coffs

Hoey Moey Hotel, Coffs Josh Matheson

Valla Beach Tavern

Arian Activity, Polar Nation Jon Gomm

Stonefield, The Delta Riggs, Kingswood

Tattersalls Hotel, Lismore

Beach Hotel, Byron Bay

Cath Simes

The Stillsons

Slipway Hotel, Ballina

Bob Walton

Emmy Bryce, Kate Vigo

Thur, April 19

Sawtell Hotel

Lloyd Spiegel, Clay Blyth

Mark Easton

Sawtell RSL

Celadore

Plantation Hotel, Coffs

Pierce Brothers

Ballina RSL

Lisa Hunt

Lalaland, Byron Bay

Pink Zinc

Lismore Bowling Club

Frenzal Rhomb, Matty Effin Morison

Sawtell RSL

Mullumbimby Civic Hall Kim Churchill, Microwave Jenny, Benjalu

Mick Bateman

SCU Unibar, Lismore

Pacific Hotel, Yamba

Guthrie

Port Macquarie Hotel

Australian Hotel, Ballina

Seaview Tavern, Woolgoolga

Ali Smith Band

Hits, The Dunhill Blues, Antibodies, Slug

Chris Aronsten

Sat, April 14

Slipway Hotel, Ballina

The Incredible Kicks, Beth & Ben

Leigh James

Tattersalls Hotel, Lismore

Minnie Marks

Ballina RSL

Slipway Hotel, Ballina

Clay Blyth

Matt Buggy

Ballina RSL Bowling Club Glenn Massey

Tattersalls Hotel, Lismore Acid Bleed

Beach Hotel, Byron Bay Pandamonium DJs

Bellingen Showground High On Life Festival w/ Watussi, SidAir, Multiverse, Morgonics, Svelt, Travers Ross, Sound Spirit (B9), MADE Hip Hop Theatre & Orchestra, The Goodkats, Didjital, MC Wyldcard,

Luke Wilton, Untold Truth, Cut Loose, 4 Suns of Ether, Matilda Sutherland, Dana-Marie, Kate Jones, Jo & Shanteya,

Fat Albert

Stonefield, The Delta Riggs, Kingswood

Cherry St Sports Club, Ballina Coolangatta Hotel The Feelers, Gasoline

Great Northern Hotel, Byron DZ Deathrays, Velociraptor

Hoey Moey Hotel, Coffs

Coastal Soul

Pacific Hotel, Yamba Peace and Plenty

Sawtell RSL

Crank

Brewery, Byron Bay The Woohoo Review

Brunswick Heads Hotel Ted / Khan

Barbara Montgomery, Rowland Stones

Fri, April 27 Australian Hotel, Ballina Ockarock

Bellingen Memorial Hall A French Butler Called Smith, Juzzie Smith

Brewery, Byron Bay Bass Heavy w/ Propatings, M_Phonik, Fatty Boomstix, Lucious Deeds

Brunswick Heads Hotel Richie Williams

Federal Hall Nick Penn goes the Full Mandy

Federal Hotel, Alstonville Alex Hallahan & the Woodland Hunters

Hoey Moey Hotel, Coffs Lazy Sundays

Lennox Point Hotel Inside Outlaw

Plantation Hotel, Coffs Chance Waters, DJ Brown Sugar

Port Macquarie Hotel Genevieve Chadwick, Beth & Ben

Slipway Hotel, Ballina Clockwork Orange

Tattersalls Hotel, Lismore Rhett Brambleby

Valla Beach Tavern Southerly Change

Sat, April 28 Australian Hotel, Ballina 2 In The Pink

Brewery, Byron Bay Chance Waters

Great Northern Hotel, Byron The Herd, Thundamentals Vanessa Lea, Roadtrain Andy Murphy

Lennox Point Hotel Occa Rock

Sheoak Shack, Fingal Head Alex Hallahan & the Woodland Hunters

Slipway Hotel, Ballina Chris Aronsten

Star Court Theatre, Lismore Sean Choolburra, David Maxwell

Tattersalls Hotel, Lismore Norman & Louise

Sun, April 29 Beach Hotel, Byron Bay

Brunswick Heads Hotel

Bent on Food, Wingham

Wear The Fox Hat

Hoey Moey Hotel, Coffs

The Stillsons

Quickfix

Old Kirk, Yamba

Bats vs Snakes, Fat City Strut

Pacific Hotel, Yamba

Ben & Beth

Wed, April 25

Doctor Bob

Lennox Point Hotel

Atmosphere

Hoey Moey Hotel, Coffs

Bonny Hills Hotel

Coast Hotel, Coffs Harbour

Harry Healy

Aya Larkin Pink Zinc

Cherry St Sports Club, Ballina

Brunswick Heads Hotel

The Hombres

Coolangatta Hotel

The Pierce Brothers

Bo Jenkins

Lalaland, Byron Bay

Sabotage

Raz Bin Sam and the Lion I Band,

Alex Hallahan & the Woodland Hunters

Beach Hotel, Byron Bay

Brunswick Heads Hotel

Darktown Strutters, Sunday, In Sync,

Owen Shannon

Port Macquarie Hotel

Hoey Moey Hotel, Coffs

Australian Hotel, Ballina

Beach Hotel, Byron Bay

Garrett Kato

Hoey Moey Hotel, Coffs

Sun, April 22 Brewery, Byron Bay

Mid North Collaboration, Malachi, Noam Blat, Hannah Day, Kell Stoner,

Thundergods of the Multiverse

Fri, April 20 Ballina RSL

Paul McMahon

Beach Hotel, Byron Bay

Tattersalls Hotel, Lismore

Bangalow Hotel

Hoey Moey Hotel, Coffs

Spacie, And Oh!

Lennox Point Hotel

The Big Gig w/ Fred Lang,

Australian Hotel, Ballina

Beach Hotel, Byron Bay

Great Northern Hotel, Byron

Damion Towner

Ballina RSL

Slipway Hotel, Ballina

Ballina RSL Bowling Club

Brunswick Heads Hotel

Thur, April 26

Sat, April 21

Sun, April 15 Brewery, Byron Bay

Geoff Turnbull

Glasshouse, Port Macquarie

Brian Watt

Yamba YHA Backpacker Resort Southerly Change

Cherry St Sports Club, Ballina

Tattersalls Hotel, Lismore

Who’s Charlie Brian Watt

Osaka Punch

mag azi ne issue #0 68 — April 2012

Sawtell Hotel

Garrett Katto

Plantation Hotel, Coffs

The Stillsons

Gumbaynggirr Dancers

44 reverb

Sunset Riot, Reprize

Kamakazi Thundercats

Brewery, Byron Bay

103 River Street, Ballina Ph 02 6686 2015 www.theaussiehotel.com

Port Macquarie Hotel

Rhys Bynon

Emily Barker

Slipway Hotel, Ballina

Anni Piper

Stu & Dave

Plantation Hotel, Coffs DJ Layn

The Strides Blake Noble and the Ninja Stars

Brunswick Heads Hotel Lisa Hunt

Byron Bay Community Centre Tahir Qawwal & Ensemble

Hoey Moey Hotel, Coffs Nathan Kaye

Rails, Byron Bay Alex Hallahan & the Woodland Hunters

Mick Bateman

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